St. Mark's Place is one area in New York City that causes lots of opinion. 

It has, for decades, been a hotbed of poetry, progressive vibes, outlandish creative types, unconventional businesses and social clubs-- all within earshot for fancier, more buttoned up neighborhoods of old surrounding it. 

Spanning down 8th Street from Astor Place to Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, it's a few blocks of wackiness and has been since development began during Manhattan's early years. 

Are you're a person old enough to remember what NYC was like before Williamsburg turned into a yuckie paradise and the graffiti walking tour of Bushwick began? 

If so, than you'll remember that St. Mark's Place was the traditional gathering place for much of the creative, rebellious, youthful and stoney demographic that inhabits much of western Brooklyn today.

For many of us growing up in and around the City, St. Mark's Place represents decades, albeit over a century and closer to two, of aberrant behavior and strange happenings. Like, free love and poetry...

So now that NYC has way more real estate dedicated to the type of people that used to be attracted mainly to St. Mark's Place's vibe, what's left there? Is it still special? Wouldn't these trendy new Brooklyn neighborhoods take the cake?

No. There's plenty of cool stuff going on in "Willyburg" and "The 'Shwick," but they're more like amusement parks for relatively young creatives with more money than they want to let on. 

Williamsburg costs all the moneys. Bushwick, though, does not, for now...

So forget about Brooklyn at the moment; Manhattan is the reigning champion of "wow" on a world scale, and St. Mark's Place is the champion of "wow, weird," within Manhattan. 

Because of that fact, we're alphabetically running down some of our favorite locations along St. Mark's, because that Chipotle has no damn business being there...

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1. Barcade (6 Saint Mark's Place)

While there are five Barcade locations around NYC, it might just fit in best on St. Mark's Place. 

You've probably heard about it already, the chain of bars featuring old school arcade games the likes of which you haven't seen since back in the day, or in rich peoples' basements.

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The only bummer about Barcade on St. Mark's is that it closes at 2 a.m., which is two hours earlier than it should be closing. 

Though, with liquor licenses being what they are, it's not necessarily easy to get one allowing the business to rage into the night in a 'hood known for being wild and weird.

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2. Crif Dogs (113 Saint Mark's Place)

Sometimes people complain about Crif Dogs, but that's because people will complain about anything. 

You could give someone a dollar and they'd complain you didn't fork over two. At any rate, the point is there is very little to complain about when it comes to Crif Dogs, besides maybe that they don't have WiFi.

They do, however, have handmade beef and pork hot dogs that you can customize any which way you like, and that is something to rejoice over. 

NYC has tons and tons of dirty water dog stands around and they're mainly gross as hell. Crif Dogs are bangin'. 

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3. East Village Books (99 Saint Mark's Place

Imagine that, an independent book store still open in 2015. With Barnes & Nobles locations closing all over the place, and Borders being a thing of the past since 2011, it's amazing to see an indie shop alive and well.

East Village Books has just about everything you might want: used and cheap. And when we say "just about everything," we mean it, including all you can think of from Sci-Fi to mysticism. 

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Imagine all the ridiculous stuff people read in the East Village. 

East Village Books is pretty much one motley collection of the remnants of hundreds of thousands of weirdos trying to scrape together $8 for god-knows-what. It's a great shop.

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4. Friterie (36 Saint Mark's Place)

Now that Pommes Frites is gone, Friterie has filled the void and everyone's mainly happy with it. It's your standard Belgian fried-food place, and it's dope.

Great for snacks, not great for full on meals, unless you're trying to piece together a bunch of appetizer type side dishes. Still, you can't argue with great fries and some honey dijon mustard. 

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5. St. Mark's Comics (11 Saint Mark's Place)

There are a ton of comic book stores in NYC. If you're on St. Mark's, clearly St. Mark's Comics is the choice. They also have a Brooklyn location, but that's neither here nor there. 

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Frankly it's not the most decorated comic shop in the City, but it is fully worth going to check out. The staff is chill and they, just like every other comic shop, host a litany of events to bring together nerds of all species. Plus they're open 'til 1 a.m. on weekends. 

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6. Trash and Vaudeville (4 Saint Mark's Place)

If you ever wondered what an alternative clothing store looked like before Hot Topic took the whole thing mainstream, Trash and Vaudeville is a pretty good example. There are few better places in the immediate area to get your Wednesday Adams steez on.

Especially because Trash and Vaudeville is pretty freakin' cheap for a clothing store in Manhattan. 

Sure, the same goes for most of St. Mark's-- it does have the reputation of being a neighborhood in which actual New Yorkers shop, though there are plenty of tourists around. Who cares, we're all Misfits fans, right?

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7. Yoga to the People

Yoga to the People is a donation-based yoga studio on St. Mark's and it's apparently all the rage. Rather-- all the exercise relaxation: rage doesn't have anything to do with it...

They offer normal classes open to everybody and "Power Vinyasha Flow," also open to everyone. The one with "Power" in the title is, surprise, rigorous. 

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But you know what? Yoga is different for everybody and everybody is different. 

The important thing about Yoga to the People is they encourage you to increase your awareness as well as your fitness-- it's as much of a mental workout as it is a physical one.

Check out 6 Reasons Why the East Village Is the Best ‘Hood to Party in NYC.