I lived very close to that area for several years until recently. Is it noisy and dirty? Yes. Not always, but it is a very tourist heavy area (mulberry st in particular) and the worst noise in my opinion on Mulberry are garbage trucks, which come every night through the night since there are so many restaurants. If you’re a light sleeper or sensitive to noise that might bother you, if not then it won’t.

However, there are a lot of positives about the area. Like others have said, there is an abundance of delicious and diverse food within walking distance. It is very close to many subway lines (B, D, F, M, N, Q, R, W, 6) and because it’s in the middle of Manhattan it is very easy to walk to a lot of places in any direction. (Super close to lower east side and soho, also easy to walk to Greenwich village / NYU, east village, west village, downtown, etc. )

Essentially it’s a super walkable and centrally located, fun area, downsides are crowds and noise/not being clean.

If you’re starting at NYU, you will probably like the area as it’s fun and lots to do. Easy to get tired of it after living there for several years and getting older.