Budget Mart

Budget Mart fills a useful role in the East Village; its wide aisles carry everything from household cleaners and toiletries to groceries and seasonal decor. Within three blocks of Tompkins Square Park, the address 33 Avenue A is hard to miss if you’re heading north from Houston or south from 14th Street. Shoppers swing by for basics but rarely leave empty-handed—apparel racks cram one corner, while electronics and automotive supplies wait near the back. A cluster of pharmacies and liquor stores surrounds it, so forgetting one item doesn’t derail the whole errand.

The store isn’t fancy, yet shelves are stocked steadily; they refill small appliances quickly after holiday clearance sales, and the dollar aisle is useful for party favors or last-minute repairs. Travel-sized toiletries? They sit by the entrance, right beside the greeting cards. A refrigerator case along the wall holds perishables and chilled drinks for the walk home. If your apartment fridge is bare, one stop covers basics without circling the block for three different stores.

The only map you’ll need points to Budget Mart at 33 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009; it lands inside the same zip code as both the historic St. Marks and the East River Park entrance. Car traffic crawls on Avenue A at rush hour, but the 6 train stops two blocks west and the M14 bus rolls down 14th Street. Parking is scarce, so riders on two wheels often squeeze bikes between the scaffolding and the bodega stoop.

One line gets the wheels turning: 646.368.1096. Need directions? Run the block long enough and you’ll remember; or just pop the address into your phone’s map app—https://www.google.com/maps/place?ftid=0x89c25900150bc413:0x3baf69ec0957336e drops a pin on the doorstep.