With its narrow tree-lined streets, brick town houses, tiny green parks, and hidden courtyards, Greenwich Village is the closest thing to a small town in Manhattan. The Village is ideal for strolling, window-shopping, and café hopping; it extends from 14th Street south to Houston Street and from the Hudson River piers to 5th Avenue. The physical and spiritual heart of the Village, Washington Square is a maelstrom of playful activity, shared by NYU students, street musicians, skateboarders, jugglers, stand-up comics, joggers, chess players, and bench warmers, watching the grand opera of it all. Dominating the square's north end, the triumphal Washington Memorial Arch stands at the foot of glorious 5th Avenue.