CHELSEA, MANHATTAN

'Chelsea' is a neighborhood on the West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located to the south of Hell's Kitchen and the Garment District, and north of Greenwich Village, and the Meatpacking District that centers on West 14th Street. The neighborhood is part of Manhattan Community Board 4 and Manhattan Community Board 5. It is named after the former residence, "Chelsea" of the Moore family.

Contents

History

Culture

Landmarks

Trivia

References

External links

History

Chelsea takes its name from the Federal-style house of the Moore family, named after the manor of Chelsea, near London, which was home to Sir Thomas More. The house was the birthplace of Clement Clarke Moore, who is more often credited with "A Visit From St. Nicholas"— which he may have authored— than with the first Greek and Hebrew lexicons printed in the United States, which he certainly authored.
"Chelsea" stood surrounded by its gardens on a full block between Ninth and Tenth Avenues south of 23rd Street until it was replaced by high quality row houses in the mid-19th century. The former rural charm of the neighborhood was tarnished by the freight railroad right-of-way of the Hudson River Railroad, which laid its tracks up Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in 1847 and separated Chelsea from the Hudson River waterfront. Clement Clarke Moore gave the land of his apple orchard for the General Theological Seminary, which built its brownstone Gothic tree-shaded campus south of "Chelsea."
By 1900, the neighborhood was solidly Irish and housed the longshoremen who unloaded freighters at warehouse piers that lined the nearby waterfront and the truck terminals integrated with the raised freight railroad spur. The film ''On the Waterfront'' (1954) recreates this tough world, dramatized in Richard Rodgers' 1936 jazz ballet ''Slaughter on Tenth Avenue''.
Chelsea was an early center for the motion picture industry before World War I. Some of Mary Pickford's first pictures were made on the top floors of an armory building on West 26th Street.
London Terrace was one of the world's largest apartment blocks when it opened in 1930, with a swimming pool, solarium, gymnasium, and doormen dressed as London bobbies.
Traditionally, Chelsea was bounded on the east by Eighth Avenue, but in 1883 the apartment block, soon transformed to Hotel Chelsea helped extend it past Seventh Avenue, and now it runs as far east as Broadway. The neighborhood is primarily residential with a mix of tenements, apartment blocks and rehabilitated warehousing, and its many businesses reflect that diversity: ethnic restaurants, delis and clothing boutiques are plentiful. Tekserve, the vast computer repair shop that strongly influenced Apple's Retail Store and Genius Bar concept, serves nearby Silicon Alley and the area's large creative community. Chelsea has a large gay population, stereotyped as gym-toned "Chelsea boys."
Most recently, Chelsea has become an alternative shopping destination with Barneys CO-OP, Comme Des Garcons, and Balenciaga boutiques. As well as being near Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Christian Louboutin.

Culture

Chelsea has recently become a melting pot of many cultures. Above 23rd Street, by the Hudson River, the neighborhood is industrial or post-industrial, featuring the newly-hip High Line that follows the river all through Chelsea. Eighth Avenue is a center for gay culture, and from 20th to 22nd street between Ninth and Tenth avenue, mid-nineteenth century brick and brownstone townhouses are still occupied, a few even restored to private use.
Since the mid-1990s, Chelsea has become a center of the New York art scene, as an increasing number of art galleries have moved there from SoHo. From 16th Street to 27th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues, there are more than 200 art galleries that are home to modern art from upcoming artists and respected artists as well.^[1] Along with the art galleries, Chelsea is also home to the somewhat well known Graffiti Research Lab. There are many new developments in Chelsea, including a new nine-storey tower with shaped glass front on West St. designed by Frank Gehry.
The district was first added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 (District #77000954), and later expanded to include contiguous blocks containing particularly significant examples of period architecture in 1982 (District #82001190).
Chelsea is a hotspot for nightlife in New York City. The infamous 27th Street (AKA: "Club Row") holds some of the cities most notorious clubs such as Marquee, Cain, Bungalow 8, Home, Guesthouse, Pink Elephant, and B.E.D (closed). These nightclubs have become especially popular because of the celebrity sightings. Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Fergie, and many others are regulars at many of these clubs; thus, creating such tough doors.

Landmarks

★ 'Chelsea Piers' - The Chelsea Piers were the city's primary luxury cruise terminal from 1910 until 1935. The RMS Titanic was headed to Pier 60 at the piers and the RMS Carpathia brought survivors to Pier 54 in the complex. The northern piers are now part of an entertainment and sports complex operated by Roland W. Betts.

★ 'Hotel Chelsea' - The hotel attracted attention to the neighborhood as the site of Dylan Thomas's death in 1953 and the slaying of Nancy Spungen by "accused" Sid Vicious in 1978. The Hotel has been the home of numerous celebrities and the subject of books, films (''Chelsea Girls'', 1966) and music.

★ 'Hudson River Park' - The entire Hudson River waterfront from 59th Street to the Battery including most of associated piers are now a combination state and city park and are undergoing a massive renovation.

★ 'High Line' - The High Line is an elevated rail line that was once used to handle freight from the waterfront. Originally slated to be torn down because it created an industrial atmosphere in the neighborhood it is now being converted into an elevated park by New York Architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

★ 'London Terrace' - The apartment complex on West 23rd was one of the world's largest apartment blocks when it opened in 1930, with a swimming pool, solarium, gymnasium, and doormen dressed as London bobbies.

★ 'Penn South' - A large limited-equity housing cooperative built by the United Housing Foundation and financed by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union covering six city blocks, between 8th and 9th Avenue and 23rd and 29th Street.

Trivia

★ The neighborhood north of Chelsea is called Clinton by real estate agents although its traditional name is Hell's Kitchen. The two neighborhoods are often lumped together as "Manhattan West" and a longstanding weekly newspaper is called the "Chelsea-Clinton News." Chelsea Clinton actually lives in the neighborhood—a fact that was highlighted in the November 2006 midterm election when she ran into problems at her 20th Street polling station when it was discovered that during a voting snafu the proper books containing her name had not been delivered to her station. She was allowed to vote via a paper ballot.^[2]

★ The popular band Counting Crows wrote a song about the area, entitled "Chelsea."

★ In the ''Friends'' episode "The One Where They're Going to Party", Monica Geller briefly writes for the fictional ''Chelsea Reporter'' newspaper as a restaurant critic. Ross Geller claims the paper influences "dozens of people".

References

★ ''WPA Guide to New York City,'' 1939
1. "Stylish Traveler: Chelsea Girls", ''Travel + Leisure'', September 2005. Accessed May 14, 2007. "With more than 200 galleries, Chelsea has plenty of variety. Here, eight of them that feature everything from paintings to sculpture, videos to installations."; "City Planning Begins Public Review for West Chelsea Rezoning to Permit Housing Developm,ent and Create Mechanism for Preserving and Creating Access to the High Line", Department of City Planning press release, December 20, 2004. "Some 200 galleries have opened their doors in recent years, making West Chelsea a destination for art lovers from around the City and the world."
2. Chelsea Clinton's name missing from voters list, ''The New York Times'', November 8, 2006

External links

★ Chelsea Neighborhood Profile - About.com

★ Air visit of 'Chelsea District' in Photographs

★ CB4 The Chelsea Community Board

★ GayCities New York Guide to Gay Bars & Clubs in Chelsea

★ Chelsea Art Galleries

★ Chelsea galleries on ArtCal

★ ClubFly Chelsea: Gay bars, clubs and a google map