Chelsea, Manhattan
Encyclopedia : C : CH : CHE : Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is located on the West Side of Manhattan, New York City. It is located to the south of Hell's Kitchen and the Garment District, north of Greenwich Village, and north / north-east of the Meatpacking District that centers on West 14th Street.
Chelsea takes its name from the Federal-style house of the Moore family, named after Chelsea, the manor of Sir Thomas More on which the borough in London has been built. 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 9th and 10th 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 10th and 11th 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 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' jazz ballet "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" (1936).
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 by Eighth Avenue, but in 1883 the apartment block, soon transformed to Hotel Chelsea helped extend it past 7th 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: restaurants and clothing stores are plentiful. Chelsea has a large gay population, stereotyped as gym-toned "Chelsea boys". 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.
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 George W. Bush fraternity brother Roland Betts.
- Hotel Chelsea - The hotel attracted attention to the neighborhood with its involvement in the death of Dylan Thomas in 1953 and, also, the slaying of Nancy Spungen by 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.
- 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.
External links
- [Chelsea Neighborhood Profile] - About.com
- [Air visit of 'Chelsea District' in Photographs]
- [Freight + Volume:] A Contemporary Art Gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood
- [GayCities New York] Guide to Gay Bars & Clubs in Chelsea
Reference
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