Hells Kitchen - Manhattan Neighborhood

Hell's Kitchen Flea Market

Situated roughly in the area between 34th Street and 57th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River is the neighborhood known as Hell's Kitchen or depending on who you are talking to Clinton or Midtown West.

Hell's Kitchen beginnings as a neighborhood began in the mid 19th century as Irish immigrants fled to America after the Great Potato Famine. The immigrants settled on West side of Manhattan in shanty towns along the Hudson River most finding work at the docks along the river or at railroad yards.

Population in the town saw a dramatic increase after the Civil War as tenements were built and immigration increased. Becoming a poverty stricken area with the influx of people and not enough work, many turned to gang life and the neighborhood soon gained a reputation as "the most dangerous area on the American continent".

The reputation was earned deservedly so as Irish American gangs ruled the area and violence was how matters were dealt with. The most notorious gang was the Gopher Gang run by Owney Madden. During the 1920's when Prohibition was in effect, the violence escalated as there were "wars" between gangs and rumrunners over who controlled the illegal liquor trade.

Hell's Kitchen suffered as a neighborhood for many, many years due to it's reputation of violence and drugs. In the 1980's it began to gentrify as new residential buildings were erected. During the gentrification process, problems between landlords and tenants of the second oldest apartment house in the city resulting in several of the buildings managers going to jail. The tenants that remain, only six, and the building itself remain untouched due to court protection while the rest of the area continues to gentrify.

Hell's Kitchen is still being developed and has become a welcoming neighborhood to reside. It is a favorite of actors to reside because of the low housing costs and it's closeness to Broadway theaters. It is home to the Actor's Studio on West 44th and many broadcast and music recording studio's.

Ninth Street or Restaurant Row is home to numerous ethnic restaurants. Every May the Ninth Avenue Association's International Food Festival, is held and is one of NYC longest running street fairs.

Restaurant Row

Hell's Kitchen Trivia:
- New York's underground dwellers known as Mole People allegedly live in the Amtrak Tunnels running under Hell's Kitchen on the west side. They have an elaborate "shantytown" complete with electricity and running water. More information can be found in the documentary Dark Days or in the book The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York by Jennifer Toth
- In Marvel Comics, Hell's Kitchen is the home base of the super heroes Daredevil and The Punisher and the birth place of Nick Fury.
- Aerosmith's "Lightning Strikes" features the lyric "The lid's gonna blow up in Hell's Kitchen." The video includes the band as street toughs in the back alleys of Hell's Kitchen.
- Patrick Bateman uses a building in Hell's Kitchen to dispose of his murder victims in Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho.

For a more detailed profile about Hell's Kitchen, please visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Kitchen%2C_Manhattan

Read what a resident of Hell's Kitchen has to say at:
http://hellskitchennyc.blogspot.com/