Editing Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan (section)

===First wave of gentrification===

====Special Clinton zoning district====

[[File:NYC-play-pen.jpg|thumb|Eighth Avenue was once lined with porn stores and theaters. The stores have mostly gone since the late 1990s, but this particular store, which was highlighted in the 2003 film ''[[Phone Booth (film)|Phone Booth]],'' remained until 2007.]]

Although the neighborhood is immediately west of New York's main business district, large-scale redevelopment has been kept in check for more than 40 years by strict zoning rules in a Special Clinton District<ref>Department of City Planning, [https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/zoning/zoning-text/art09c06.pdf?r=091416 Special Clinton District zoning text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202042915/https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/zoning/zoning-text/art09c06.pdf?r=091416 |date=February 2, 2017 }}.</ref> designed to protect the neighborhood's residents and its low-rise character.

In part to qualify for federal aid, New York developed a comprehensive ''Plan for New York City'' in 1969–70. While for almost all neighborhoods, the master plan contained few proposals, it was very explicit about the bright future of Hell's Kitchen. The plan called for 2,000 to 3,000 new hotel rooms, 25,000 apartments, {{cvt|25|e6sqft|m2}} of office space, a new super liner terminal, a subway along 48th Street, and a convention center to replace what the plan described as "blocks of antiquated and deteriorating structures of every sort."<ref>{{cite news |title=New Exhibit Hall Planned Here |first=Edward C. |last=Burks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/25/archives/new-exhibit-hall-planned-here.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 25, 1970 |access-date=July 26, 2018 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408195143/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/25/archives/new-exhibit-hall-planned-here.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stern |first=Michael |title=6th And Last Part of Master Plan on City Released; Volume on Manhattan Urges Building of Offices Along 48th St. Transit Line Westward Pattern Set Condemnation of Big Tracts Intended to Insure Public Use of Some of Area |work=The New York Times |date=December 8, 1970 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/08/archives/6th-and-last-part-of-master-plan-on-city-released-volume-on.html |access-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107114349/http://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/08/archives/6th-and-last-part-of-master-plan-on-city-released-volume-on.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, outrage at the massive residential displacement that this development project would have caused,<ref>{{cite news |last=Blumenthal |first=Ralph |title=Elliott Assailed at Plan Hearing; Clinton-Chelsea Residents Denounce Proposals |work=The New York Times |date=March 7, 1972 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/07/archives/elliott-assailed-at-plan-hearing-clintonchelsea-residents-denounce.html |access-date=July 25, 2018 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408195143/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/07/archives/elliott-assailed-at-plan-hearing-clintonchelsea-residents-denounce.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the failure of the City to complete any replacement housing, led to opposition to the first project – a new convention center to replace the [[New York Coliseum]].<ref>{{cite news |title=City Planning Convention Center |first=Edward C. |last=Burks |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0D10F73B5F127A93C6AB1789D85F458785F9 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 24, 1971 |access-date=February 8, 2017 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408195200/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/24/archives/city-planning-convention-center-city-is-planning-convention-area.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

To prevent the convention center from sparking a development boom that would beget the rest of the master plan with its consequent displacement, the Clinton Planning Council and Daniel Gutman, their environmental planner, proposed that the convention center and all major development be located south of 42nd Street, where public policy had already left tracts of vacant land.<ref>{{cite news |last=Darnton |first=John |title=Convention Center Model Unveiled Here With Pride; A Dissenting View |work=The New York Times |date=February 14, 1973 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/14/archives/convention-center-model-unveiled-here-with-pride-a-4level-building.html |access-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107113931/http://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/14/archives/convention-center-model-unveiled-here-with-pride-a-4level-building.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Nevertheless, in 1973, the [[Jacob K. Javits Convention Center]] was approved for a 44th Street site that would replace piers 84 and 86. But in exchange, and after the defeat of a bond issue that would have funded a 48th Street "people mover",<ref>Richard Witkin, [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/04/archives/state-will-cancel-some-road-projects.html "State Will Cancel Some Road Projects,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107030135/http://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/04/archives/state-will-cancel-some-road-projects.html |date=November 7, 2017 }} ''The New York Times'', November 4, 1971.</ref> the City first abandoned the rest of the 1969–70 master plan<ref>{{cite news |last=Tomasson |first=Robert E. |title=Developers Turning to West Midtown |work=The New York Times |date=February 18, 1973 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/18/archives/developers-turning-to-west-midtown-developers-turn-to-west-side.html |access-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-date=October 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002072601/http://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/18/archives/developers-turning-to-west-midtown-developers-turn-to-west-side.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and then gave the neighborhood a special zoning district to restrict further redevelopment.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fowler |first=Glenn |title=City Is Limiting Clinton Building; Board of Estimate Enacts Special Zoning Controls on Runaway Development |work=The New York Times |date=November 22, 1974 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/22/archives/city-is-limiting-clinton-building-board-of-estimate-enacts-special.html |access-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-date=October 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002072655/http://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/22/archives/city-is-limiting-clinton-building-board-of-estimate-enacts-special.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Since then, limited new development has filled in the many empty lots and rejuvenated existing buildings. Later, in 1978, when the city could not afford the higher cost of constructing the 44th Street convention center over water, the Mayor and Governor chose the rail yard site originally proposed by the local community.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kaiser |first=Charles |title=Convention Site at West 34th St. Chosen by Koch; He and Carey Outline Plans for Center |work=The New York Times |date=April 29, 1978 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/29/archives/new-jersey-pages-convention-site-at-west-34th-st-chosen-by-koch-he.html |access-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-date=October 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002022829/http://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/29/archives/new-jersey-pages-convention-site-at-west-34th-st-chosen-by-koch-he.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The SCD was originally split into four areas:
*'''Preservation Area:''' 43rd to 56th Streets between Eighth and Tenth Avenues. R-7 density, 6-story height limit on new buildings, suggested average apartment size of two bedrooms. This was a response to the fact that between 1960 and 1970 developers had torn down 2,300 family-sized units and replaced them with 1,500 smaller units.
*'''Perimeter Area:''' Eighth Avenue, 42nd and 57th Streets. Bulkier development permitted to counterbalance the downzoning in the preservation area.
*'''Mixed Use Area:''' Tenth and Eleventh Avenues between 43rd and 50th Streets. Mixed residential and manufacturing. New residential development only permitted in conjunction with manufacturing areas. Later combined into "Other Areas".
*'''Other Areas:''' West of Eleventh Avenue. Industrial and waterfront uses. Later combined with "Mixed Use Area"

Special permits are required for all demolition and construction in the SCD, including demolition of "any sound housing in the District" and any rehabilitation that increases the number of dwellings in a structure. In the original provisions, no building could be demolished unless it was unsound. New developments, conversions, or alterations that create new units or zero bedroom units must contain at least 20% two bedroom apartments with a minimum room size of {{cvt|168|sqft|m2|0}}.

Alterations that reduce the percentage of two-bedroom units are not permitted unless the resulting building meets the 20% two-bedroom requirement. Building height in the Preservation Area cannot exceed {{cvt|66|ft|m}} or seven stories, whichever is less.

====Windermere====
[[File:Windermere-apartment.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The Windermere Apartments at Ninth Avenue and 57th Street]]
As the gentrification pace increased, there were numerous reports of problems between landlords and tenants. The most extreme example was the eight-story Windermere Apartments complex at the southwest corner of Ninth Avenue and 57th Street. Built in 1881, it is the second-oldest large apartment house in Manhattan.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2171.pdf |title=The Windermere |date=June 28, 2005 |publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] |access-date=December 8, 2018 |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408195147/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2171.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1980, the owner, Alan B. Weissman, tried to empty the building of its tenants. According to former tenants and court papers, rooms were ransacked, doors were ripped out, prostitutes were moved in, and tenants received death threats in the campaign to empty the building. All the major New York newspapers covered the trials that sent the Windermere's managers to jail. Although Weissman was never linked to the harassment, he and his wife made top billing in the 1985 edition of ''[[The Village Voice]]''{{'s}} annual list, "The Dirty Dozen: New York's Worst Landlords."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/20/nyregion/ninth-avenue-noir.html?pagewanted=all "Ninth Avenue Noir"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408195144/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/20/nyregion/ninth-avenue-noir.html?pagewanted=all |date=April 8, 2023 }} by Elias Wolfberg, ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 20, 2002</ref>

Most of the tenants eventually settled and moved out of the building. In May 2006, seven tenants remained<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/nyregion/22windermere.html?_r=0&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all "An Epic Landlord-Tenant Fight, Crossing Years and Continents"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408195146/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/nyregion/22windermere.html?_r=0&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all |date=April 8, 2023 }} by Anthony Ramirez, ''The New York Times'', October 22, 2007</ref> and court orders protecting the tenants and the building allowed it to remain in a derelict condition even as the surrounding neighborhood was experiencing a dramatic burst of demolition and redevelopment. In September 2007, the fire department evacuated the remaining seven residents from the building, citing dangerous conditions, and padlocked the front door.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E1D8123AF931A1575AC0A9619C8B63 "Fire Dept. Orders Windermere Tenants Out"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408195150/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/nyregion/22windemere.html |date=April 8, 2023 }} by Anthony Ramirez, ''The New York Times'', September 22, 2007</ref> In 2008, the [[New York Supreme Court]] ruled that the owners of the building, who include the [[TOA Construction Corporation]] of Japan, must repair it.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/nyregion/10windermere.html |title=Repairs Ordered at Windermere |last=Associated Press |date=May 10, 2008 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 25, 2009 |archive-date=January 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107161436/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/nyregion/10windermere.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Clear}}

====Failed rezoning attempts====
[[File:10th-ave.jpg|thumb|Looking south on Tenth Avenue from 59th Street]]

By the 1980s, the area south of 42nd Street was in decline. Both the state and the city hoped that the [[Jacob K. Javits Convention Center]] would renew the area.<ref name="olympic2012-won">{{cite web |url=http://wagner.nyu.edu/files/faculty/publications/Olympics_in_NYC_2012_REPORT_110711.pdf |title=How New York City Won the Olympics |publisher=[[New York University]] |work=Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service |date=November 2011 |access-date=September 11, 2015 |author=Mitchell L. Moss |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926234053/http://wagner.nyu.edu/files/faculty/publications/Olympics_in_NYC_2012_REPORT_110711.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Hotels, restaurants, apartment buildings, and television studios were proposed.<ref name="nyt19860406">Lyons, Richard. [https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/06/realestate/glittering-javits-center-kindles-dreams-for-west-side.html "Glittering Javits Center Kindles Dreams For West Side."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801052908/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/06/realestate/glittering-javits-center-kindles-dreams-for-west-side.html |date=August 1, 2016 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. April 6, 1986. Section B, page 7, column 1.</ref> One proposal included apartments and hotels on a {{cvt|30|acre}} pier jutting out onto Hudson River, which included a [[marina]], [[ferry slip]], stores, restaurants, and a [[performing arts center]].<ref>Finder, Alan. [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/11/nyregion/developers-named-for-hudson-complex.html "Developers Named For Hudson Complex."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801052845/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/11/nyregion/developers-named-for-hudson-complex.html |date=August 1, 2016 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. February 11, 1987. Section B, page 1, column 2.</ref> At Ninth Avenue and 33rd Street, a 32-story office tower would be built.<ref>Scardino, Albert. [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/22/nyregion/project-would-extend-office-towers-to-ninth-avenue.html "Project Would Extend Office Towers To Ninth Avenue."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801053125/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/22/nyregion/project-would-extend-office-towers-to-ninth-avenue.html |date=August 1, 2016 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. April 22, 1987. Section B, page 1, column 2.</ref> Hotels, apartment buildings, and a [[Madison Square Garden]] would be built over the tracks west of [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|Pennsylvania Station]].<ref>Gottlieb, Martin. [https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/26/nyregion/new-sports-arena-planned-for-site-west-of-10th-ave.html "New Sports Arena Planned For Site West Of 10th Ave."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801053302/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/26/nyregion/new-sports-arena-planned-for-site-west-of-10th-ave.html |date=August 1, 2016 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. April 26, 1986. Section 1, page 1, column 1.</ref><ref>Scardino, Albert. [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/06/nyregion/12-block-office-entertainment-center-planned-on-west-side.html "12-Block Office-Entertainment Center Planned On West Side."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801052835/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/06/nyregion/12-block-office-entertainment-center-planned-on-west-side.html |date=August 1, 2016 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. April 6, 1987. Section B, page 1, column 2.</ref> North of the Javits Center, a "Television City" would be developed by [[Larry Silverstein]] in conjunction with [[NBC]].<ref name=nyt19860406/>

One impediment to development was the lack of mass transit in the area, which is far from Penn Station, and none of the proposals for a link to Penn Station was pursued successfully, for example, the ill-fated West Side Transitway.<ref>Gregory P. Benz, et al., [http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr221/221-018.pdf "West Side Manhattan Transitway Study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107022108/http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr221/221-018.pdf |date=November 7, 2017 }}," Transportation Research Board, Special Report No. 221, May 8–11, 1988.</ref> No changes to the zoning policy happened until 1990, when the city rezoned a small segment of 11th Avenue near the Javits Center.<ref>Oser, Alan. [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/04/realestate/perspectives-the-west-30-s-land-uses-near-the-convention-center.html "Perspectives: The West 30's; Land Uses Near the Convention Center."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107120226/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/04/realestate/perspectives-the-west-30-s-land-uses-near-the-convention-center.html |date=November 7, 2017 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. February 4, 1990. Section 10, page 9, column 2.</ref><ref>Buder, Leonard. [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/24/nyregion/area-near-javits-center-is-rezoned.html "Area Near Javits Center Is Rezoned."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107120605/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/24/nyregion/area-near-javits-center-is-rezoned.html |date=November 7, 2017 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. February 24, 1990. Section 1, page 29, column 2.</ref> In 1993, part of 9th Avenue between 35th and 41st Streets was also rezoned.<ref>Howe, Marvine. [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/24/nyregion/neighborhood-report-midtown-after-30-years-it-s-ciao-giordano.html "Neighborhood Report: Midtown; After 30 Years It's Ciao, Giordano."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801053236/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/24/nyregion/neighborhood-report-midtown-after-30-years-it-s-ciao-giordano.html |date=August 1, 2016 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. October 24, 1993. Section 13, page 6, column 1.</ref><ref>Lambert, Bruce. [https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/10/nyregion/neighborhood-report-clinton-on-ninth-ave-a-new-call-for-help.html "Neighborhood Report: Clinton; On Ninth Ave., A New Call For Help..."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801052858/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/10/nyregion/neighborhood-report-clinton-on-ninth-ave-a-new-call-for-help.html |date=August 1, 2016 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. July 10, 1994. Section 13, page 6, column 4.</ref> However, neither of these rezonings was particularly significant, as most of the area was still zoned as a manufacturing district with low-rise apartment buildings.<ref>Lyons, Richard. [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/02/realestate/postings-for-pioneers-housing-near-javits-center.html "Postings: For Pioneers?; Housing Near Javits Center."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107120751/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/02/realestate/postings-for-pioneers-housing-near-javits-center.html |date=November 7, 2017 }} ''The New York Times''. New York. July 2, 1989. Section 10, page 1, column 4.</ref>

By the early 1990s, there was [[Early 1990s recession in the United States|a recession]], which scuttled plans for rezoning and severely reduced the amount of development in the area.<ref>Rozhon, Tracie. [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/09/realestate/80-s-giant-dreams-facing-90-s-economic-realities.html "80's Giant Dreams Facing 90's Economic Realities."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801053247/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/09/realestate/80-s-giant-dreams-facing-90-s-economic-realities.html |date=August 1, 2016 }} ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 9, 1996. Section 9, page 1, column 4.</ref> After the recession was over, developers invested in areas like [[Times Square]], eastern Hell's Kitchen, and [[Chelsea, Manhattan|Chelsea]], but mostly skipped the Far West Side.<ref>[[David W. Dunlap|Dunlap, David]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/24/realestate/the-taming-of-the-wild-west.html "The Taming Of the 'Wild West'."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801053210/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/24/realestate/the-taming-of-the-wild-west.html |date=August 1, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 24, 1997. Accessed December 1, 2016.</ref>