The tour of Greenwich Village is the most peaceful and surprising highlight of my day. I’ve given up on comparing whether something is still there or not and I’ve relaxed into just letting the guide walk me down some unfamiliar streets. As I pass the Cafe Wha? (description: “A legendary club where Jimi Hendrix once played. It’s in days are long passed”), I turn down the most amazing street of the day. Minetta Street is a beautiful sideroad that you pretty much have no reason to go down at all. It’s just a few blocks of converted row houses and it’s completely silent. I am calmed. I see a sign that says quiet zone.

The quiet zone is Father Demo Square and along with the signs urging silence there are “Don’t feed the pigeons” notices everywhere. Feeding the pigeons is exactly what the elderly man that I sit beside is doing. I take a break and go through my photocopied guide for a bit when the man asks me if I know anything about cell phones. He wants me to fix the time on his Android and I’m just as confused as he is when I try, so I apologize and return the phone.

He says his name is Al Heitzer and he’s lived in the neighborhood for 70 years. Now this is a man who could tell me what’s changed in the area. “NYU and real estate vultures are destroying the neighborhood. The local pharmacy across the street from me had to close because they tripled the rent and people knock on my door to offer buyouts on my apartment. I tell 'em no. The cities expensive but I’m never living anywhere that I have to have a car.” We trade stories about traffic accidents and I’m appreciative that I’m just walking everywhere I want to go today. The bread for the pigeons is gone and I tell Al I’ve gotta go. He asks if he can take a picture of me because he likes to post people he meets around the neighborhood on his Facebook. He may not be able to change the time on his phone, but it seems like he’s got his social media game down.

THE REST OF GREENWICH VILLAGE isn’t much different than what is described in the guide. One record shop has closed but another is open, one bar has had its permanent last call (Chumley’s) but another has a bustling happy hour (The Slaughtered Lamb). There’s a 7 Eleven and a Starbucks.

When I asked about changes, everyone today just talked about money. So I decide to go where the money is.