From The Peopling of New York City
by Emily Tabolt, Jacky Ng, Veronica Rotari, Michael Luboa
Contents
The Calm Outside the Storm
Hell's kitchen is the west side strip of Manhattan that stretches from 34th street to 59th street and from 8th avenue to 12th avenue. Contrary to its fiery name, it's a quiet place that gives a sense of peace, especially when compared to the characteristic "rush hour" atmosphere of New York City. When approaching it from the rest of Manhattan on its southeastern corner, one can begin to notice the crowds and noises of the city die down slightly. The effect is really pronounced when one approaches it from the Herald Sq. area (for all you lost souls in Manhattan, that's near the Graduate Center). As one walks down 34th street from The Avenue of the Americas towards the Hudson River (quite a trip), the city slowly calms down with each avenue that one walks. The atmosphere changes from hectic to relaxed, the prices of everything in the delis go way down (as in, not $5 for a soda) and the people become nicer. Really. They do.
Famous for its numerous Irish pubs and of course, food related thoroughfares, Hell's Kitchen is a unique slice of Manhattan - something different within the city that never sleeps.
Transitions
In the following photos, one can see the city's hectic atmosphere die down. Taken at the corner of 8th and 42nd, one faces east, and then faces west - it's remarkable how Hell's Kitchen has resisted the neon signs, crazy tourists and endless storefronts of the rest of Manhattan. See for yourself -
While the traffic volume is about the same in both cases, the dramatic shift in the types of buildings foreshadow a similar change in the natures of the two areas - from the types of businesses to the types of people that live there, Hell's Kitchen and Times Square are night and day.
8th avenue marks the descent into Hell.
