Editing Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan (section)

====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.