The East Village runs south to north from Houston Street to East 14th Street (Houston Street ---> 1st Street ---> 2nd Street ---> etc.), and west to east from 3rd Avenue to the East River...
Take the Downtown A-C-E (the blue line) from 34th Street-Penn Station to West 4th Street. All three of these trains (the A, the C and the E) stop at West 4th Street, so it doesn't matter which one...