Blue Stockings is located at 172 Allen Street on the Lower East Side. Using Social Explorer, I looked into the demographics of the Lower East Side, and specifically, of Census Tract 30.01 where Blue Stockings is located.
In the census tract, 57.925% of the population above 15 is unmarried. There is nothing too unusual about this, as the Lower East Side is quickly becoming known as a spot for singles while it was also known as a center for families before. 45.38 % of residents are female, which is a relatively even ratio.
About 66 percent of residents are employed. In the Lower East Side overall, anywhere from 50-70 percent of residents are employed. This isn’t too much of a contrast with the rest of Manhattan- there are many students and youth with a better economic background moving into the area, and as with everywhere there are residents with pension and disabilities who do not work. The majority work in the private sector.
The table below depicts the types of employment of residents- a large percentage are in retail, information, arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services. A large portion work in professional, scientific, technical, management, administrative, educational, health, social services, and waste management services. I believe that retail, entertainment, and food services make sense in context of the region. In terms of arts and recreation, I believe that the Lower East Side has changed and become less of a residential area and more of a recreational area, with stores, food, and artistic and unique spaces, such as Blue Stockings, making it memorable.
| Employed Civilian Population 16 Years And Over: | 2,588 | |
| Construction | 37 | 1.4% |
| Manufacturing | 220 | 8.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 73 | 2.8% |
| Retail trade | 264 | 10.2% |
| Transportation and warehousing, and utilities: | 61 | 2.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 52 | 2.0% |
| Utilities | 9 | 0.4% |
| Information | 344 | 13.3% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate and rental and leasing: | 161 | 6.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 109 | 4.2% |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 52 | 2.0% |
| Professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services: |
393 | 15.2% |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 278 | 10.7% |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 0 | 0% |
| Administrative and support and waste management services | 115 | 4.4% |
| Educational, health and social services: | 303 | 11.7% |
| Educational services | 165 | 6.4% |
| Health care and social assistance | 138 | 5.3% |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services: |
620 | 24.0% |
| Arts, entertainment, and recreation | 157 | 6.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 463 | 17.9% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 71 | 2.7% |
| Public administration | 41 | 1.6% |
I hypothesize that the people on the streets are usually not residents of the area. They may be New Yorkers from different regions and tourists from different states and countries. This would make sense because the ladies at Blue Stockings mentioned that they get a lot of traffic, and a lot of different people come in (although of course there are the regulars). They mentioned that many visitors barely speak English and many visitors are minorities. The ladies also mentioned just how expensive Lower East side rent is.
According to Social Explorer, the median household income in the census tract was $34,826 in 2000. We see that the Lower East Side in general seemed to have a much lower median household income than the rest of Manhattan. Perhaps this indicates a contemporary gentrification, occurring later than that in other regions of the city. According to nyc.gov, “Despite significant demographic changes during this decade, the Lower East Side is still home to a large foreignborn population and moderate-income households earning between $50,000 and $75,000 actually grew by 30%, but higher income households are also growing at a much faster rate. While median household income rose dramatically from $24,192 to $39,082 it is still substantially below the New York City median household income of $50,173. It is safe to say, however, that if current trends continue the Lower East Side will be out of the reach to all but the most affluent New Yorkers, with the exception of residents living in New York City Housing Authority apartments or in other government subsidized housing.” A sign of this gentrification is how 44.219% of the population in the census tract in 2000 lived in a different house in 1995, and that is only a five year difference! I can only imagine how many residents have been displaced until present time.
Blue Stockings staff has definitely voiced that gentrification as been an issue. The clientele at Blue Stockings is very diverse, but so is the neighborhood, ethnically.
43.883 percent of the population is white, and this white population is still very diverse- the ancestry of residents ranges from German to Irish to Italian to Swedish. And there are families with origin in the West Indies and Caribbean.
| Statistics | Census Tract 30.01, New York County, New York | |
| SE:T203. Ancestry | ||
| Total: | 4,427 | |
| Ancestry specified: | 3,733 | 84.3% |
| Single ancestry | 3,101 | 70.1% |
| Multiple ancestry | 632 | 14.3% |
| Ancestry not specified: | 694 | 15.7% |
| Ancestry unclassified | 16 | 0.4% |
| Ancestry not reported | 678 | 15.3% |
| SE:T204. Ancestry – Place of Origin (First Ancestry Reported) | ||
| Total: | 4,427 | |
| First ancestry reported: | 3,733 | 84.3% |
| Acadian/Cajun | 9 | 0.2% |
| Australian | 12 | 0.3% |
| Austrian | 12 | 0.3% |
| Belgian | 10 | 0.2% |
| Brazilian | 10 | 0.2% |
| British | 36 | 0.8% |
| Croatian | 8 | 0.2% |
| Danish | 9 | 0.2% |
| Dutch | 7 | 0.2% |
| Eastern European | 34 | 0.8% |
| English | 77 | 1.7% |
| European | 17 | 0.4% |
| French (except Basque) | 44 | 1.0% |
| German | 146 | 3.3% |
| Hungarian | 20 | 0.5% |
| Irish | 215 | 4.9% |
| Israeli | 45 | 1.0% |
| Italian | 200 | 4.5% |
| Macedonian | 9 | 0.2% |
| Norwegian | 34 | 0.8% |
| Polish | 66 | 1.5% |
| Russian | 79 | 1.8% |
| Scandinavian | 5 | 0.1% |
| Scotch-Irish | 52 | 1.2% |
| Scottish | 38 | 0.9% |
| Slavic | 9 | 0.2% |
| Swedish | 48 | 1.1% |
| Swiss | 20 | 0.5% |
| United States or American | 36 | 0.8% |
| West Indian (excluding Hispanic groups): | 39 | 0.9% |
| Barbadian | 12 | 0.3% |
| British West Indian | 18 | 0.4% |
| Jamaican | 9 | 0.2% |
| Other groups | 2,387 | 53.9% |
| Unclassified or not reported | 694 | 15.7% |
Perhaps Blue Stockings DOESN’T necessarily meet local demands. Visitors are oftentimes not residents of the area. Only time will tell if the new “hipsters” moving into the gentrified area will cause Blue Stockings to be more of a local phenomena. But I don’t think that is essential to its success to be honest. For the groups that Blue Stockings caters to, Blue Stockings is an INTERNATIONAL phenomenon, not just a local one, which is what makes it so successful.
