 |
|
|
 |
| |
Hell’s Kitchen or Clinton, as it is less commonly known, is located from 59th to 30th Street and 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. Amazingly enough, there really isn’t a good story of how the area got its inferno inspired name but until recently it was easy to see how the label stuck. Once overrun with gangsters, drug dealers, prostitutes and thieves the neighborhood is now in the midst of a massive clean up effort. Many of the people who live here enjoy a certain camaraderie which has made residents want to stay and improve their neighborhood. It’s not uncommon to see locals hanging out talking on sidewalks, greeting shop keepers or kicking around in vacant-lot-turned-community-gardens. DeWitt Clinton Park, located between 10th and 11th Avenues in the low fifties has also been known to hold a softball game or two.
Still a magnet for the city’s immigrant populations from Central and South America many young professionals are also attracted to Hell’s Kitchen because of its proximity to midtown and reasonably priced rents. Residents tend to work in the performing arts, fashion, advertising, media and recording professions.
Because the area was once supported by breweries, slaughter houses, outdoor markets and the wharf, neighborhood shops and restaurants have a tradition of offering a wide variety of fresh and exotic food options. Ninth Avenue is one of the city’s great resources of good and inexpensive ethnic restaurants. Always a good fix for pre-theater meals or weekend brunches.
Creation of the 1973 Special Preservation District has put restrictions on building heights and changes to building exteriors making the majority of living spaces prewar buildings, brownstone walk-ups or old tenements. Manhattan Plaza, one of the only high-rise buildings in the area, is primarily filled with subsidized apartments for performing artists.
Given Disney’s arrival and the (considerable) advances made in cleaning up the neighborhood, you still have to be cautious when walking around Hell’s Kitchen. The area south of 42nd Street and Port Authority is especially sketchy. Because the buildings are primarily industrial there’s still a bit of grit and a few people seen walking the streets, especially at night.
 Clinton
|
 |
|
|
|
Metropolis Real Estate of Manhattan | 79 Madison Avenue 7th Floor| New York, NY 10016
Tel: 646.738.2865, Fax: 212.696.0220 | Email:
tomr@metropolisapts.com
|
|