Hell’s Kitchen spans roughly from 34th Street to 59th Street west of 8th Avenue, and has a history that supports its name. The neighborhood, although it has improved over the years, still retains its diversity and it’s charm. With a background flooded with immigrants, the neighborhood has developed as a center of ethnic cuisine. The neighborhood, also called Clinton, is part of Community District 4.The neighborhood has deep-rooted Irish roots, and has a very large artistic community.
The Hudson River Railroad, which ran down 11th avenue and earned the avenue the nickname “Death Avenue,” opened a station at 30th street in 1851, brought factories, slaughterhouses, lumberyards, and tenements to house the workers. Impoverished conditions and close living created tension, and there were often riots or brawls between the Irish Catholics and the Protestants and the Irish and the African-Americans, and gangs took over the streets; the neighborhood was mostly Irish and German immigrants. At the end of the 1950s the City Planning Committee changed the neighborhood’s name from Hell’s Kitchen to Clinton, after DeWitt Clinton, the former New York City Mayor and Governor. The neighborhood, although surrounded by the extremely gentrified Upper West Side to the North Chelsea to the South, and Midtown to the East, still maintains its diversity, and is known for the ethnic cuisine throughout the neighborhood and more specifically on Restaurant Row on 46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, and along 9th avenue. The 9th Avenue International Food Festival has ran from 42nd Street to 57th for 37 years, was started by the Ninth Avenue Association, and features clothing, music, and arts and crafts vendors and cuisines from all over the world. The Ninth Avenue Association was created to bring attention to “New York’s most diverse and interesting ethnic neighborhood” in 1973 and their purpose is to “unite the business community, help the neighborhood with every day challenges, to work with city agencies on behalf of local merchants, and to support worthy neighborhood causes.” (http://ninthavenuefoodfestival.com/about_us)
According to the 2006-2008 ACS Demographics and Household Estimates for Manhattan Community Districts 4 and 5, which cover Chelsea, Clinton and Midtown, the total population of the districts is 137,155 people. Out of these residents, 99,934 of them are White, 19,835 are any Hispanic, 16,979 are Asian, and 9,192 are Black. There are a total of 91,874 housing units; 77,186 of the units are occupied, and 14,688 that are vacant, and of these households 48,180 have only one occupant. The Census information also lists that out of the 137,155 people who live in the districts, 15,744 are Irish, 13,966 are German, 13,083 are Italian, 9,474 are English, 8,359 are Russian, 7,542 are Polish, and only 3,263 are American, among other backgrounds.
Census Tract 139, which represents the area form 54th Street to 58th Street, from 8th to 10th Avenues, was the most populated tract in Community District 4 in the 2000 Census. Tract 139 had 9,795 residents, 6,939 of them were white, 1,088 Hispanic, 1,029 Asian, and 435 black, among other races, all lived in 6,807 households.
In Community Board 4, which includes Chelsea as well as Hell’s Kitchen, there are 24 public schools – five elementary, two middle, one K-12, fifteen high schools, and one special education school. There are also five elementary schools, one k-12, one high school, and one other school that are privately owned. There is one public college, John Jay College, two independent colleges, and four proprietary colleges. Hell’s Kitchen is part of school district 2, spans a large percentage of the lower half of Manhattan.
Hell’s Kitchen is comprised of many local businesses, many of which have been around for a very long time and are owned and/or operated by local residents or community members. The area is comprised of many ethnic restaurants, and is even famous for it’s wide array of ethnic cuisine. There are also many local delis, pharmacies, food and seafood markets, butcher shops, barber shops, laundry centers, second hand stores, pet stores, hardware stores, bicycle shops, garages, and factories, as well as a flea market every Saturday and Sunday on 38th Street between 9th and 10th avenues all year long. The gentrification of the neighborhood is having a negative effect on local, family run businesses. Big chain stores with lots of money are coming in and buying out leases from business owners who cannot afford the rising prices of rent throughout the area.
Currently in Hell’s Kitchen, according to Trulia.com, the average selling price for a home is $917,125. In the older buildings in the neighborhood, mostly brownstones and short apartment buildings (much of the neighborhood has a height maximum of six stories for buildings), and you can still rent apartments in those buildings for approximately $1,600 for a studio, around $1,850 for a one bedroom, and about $2,200 for a two bedroom, according to the video on the website http://www.articlesbase.com/videos/5min/256563609 from the Daily News. The newer condos charge as far as $4,000 a month for a one-bedroom rental. There are many schools and parks nearby, and the Alvin Ailey dance studio is on the corner of 55th Street and 9th Avenue.
Hell’s Kitchen is located near the heart of Manhattan, with accessibility from almost every train line and many bus lines, it is a haven for those who want community living in Manhattan. The neighborhood has changed drastically over the years, and will remain to change, but the community environment and the gritty charm of the area will remain for years to come.
Sources:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/popacs.shtml
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/lucds/cdstart.shtml
prtl-drprd-web.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/lucds/mn4profile.pdf
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/popacs.shtml
http://www.articlesbase.com/videos/5min/256563609
http://hknanyc.org/aboutus/moreHistory.php
http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Hell’s_Kitchen-New_York/5133/
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