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"Let Me Tell You" is a series of columns from our expert editors about NYC living, including the best things to do, where to eat and drink, and what to see at the theater. They publish each Tuesday so you’re hearing from us each week. Last time, Things to Do Editor Rossilynne Skena Culgan found some bliss at a cozy yoga studio in East Village.
New Yorkers have a lot of opinions when I tell them I live in Hell's Kitchen. How can you deal with being so close to Times Square? But aren't you far from a subway? Isn't it loud? Why would you ever live on “work island?”
To them, I say: I can easily re-route around Times Square and avoid the crowds. My 12-minute walk to the Columbus Circle subway station builds character—and cardio skills. It definitely depends on your block, but mine isn’t too noisy. Cool it with the “work island” stuff, people. And now, I can tell them: My controversial neighborhood has been ranked as one of the best places to live in NYC, at least according to this new study. So there.
RECOMMENDED: These are apparently the three best NYC neighborhoods to live in
I’m always a little surprised when people seem perplexed by my choice of neighborhood. I moved here four years ago from Pittsburgh (yes, I’m a proud transplant!), and I fell so hard for this neighborhood that I never want to move out of this slice of Manhattan. I get it, some people seem to carry a general disdain for all of midtown, but I think it’s short-sighted to write off an entire swath of this island with little more than an eyeroll.
Before we dive in, let’s agree about where Hell’s Kitchen is on a map. Like most neighborhoods around town, the agreed-upon boundaries of Hell’s Kitchen are fuzzy, but most agree that the neighborhood runs from 34th Street up to 59th Street from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. And don’t call it Clinton.
The study I mentioned, conducted by Niche, ranked Hell’s Kitchen as the No. 4 best place in NYC to live, behind Little Italy, Kips Bay, and the Theater District. (I cannot defend the Theater District’s inclusion in the top three.) Niche apparently scoured data to look for affordability, the local housing market, neighborhood diversity, area public schools, walkability and more. In my experience, Hell’s Kitchen hits most of those marks.
It boasts plentiful housing stock, including a decent share of one-bedrooms priced under $3,000—an alarmingly challenging feat in Manhattan. I searched one-bedroom, one-bath units under $3,000 on StreetEasy and found more than a dozen options. I found zero units on StreetEasy with those parameters in fellow West side neighborhoods Chelsea, the West Village and Soho. Hudson Yards and the Upper West Side returned a handful of options. As for affordability, there is always more our city could do to make renting more affordable across the five boroughs.
In terms of neighborhood diversity, Hell’s Kitchen is known as an LGBTQ+ hotspot with tons of gay bars, nightclubs and drag performances. Here’s a full list, courtesy of W42ST. The neighborhood also shows its diversity through the dining options available on Restaurant Row (located on 46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues). Whether you’re looking for Chinese cuisine, Italian food, French fare, Japanese treats, Cajun dishes and more, you can find it on Restaurant Row.
Walkability is one of my favorite aspects of my neighborhood. I can walk to everything I need without leaving this neighborhood: Grocery stores, bodegas, hardware stores, pharmacies, dentists, doctors, hair salons, nail salons, cafes, the library, a post office and so much more. Plus, I can easily walk for exercise, thanks to all of the lush green spaces in the neighborhood.
Hell’s Kitchen provides access the Hudson River trail, a respite along the water. No matter the season, locals flock to the trail to run, walk and admire the gorgeous sunsets. Another popular spot for recreation is DeWitt Clinton Park, where you'll find a playground, a dog run and plenty of athletic fields. There are also plenty of pocket parks and even a new park on a pier for more strolling and serenity. Though it’s just outside of the neighborhood’s boundaries, Central Park is a quick walk away for Hell’s Kitchen residents.
All that said, the study doesn’t even bring Hell’s Kitchen's other perks into play. It’s walkable to Broadway—where there’s even a musical that bears our neighborhood’s name. The Irish Arts Center is an excellent cultural amenity in the neighborhood, which offers programming and performances. We even have an aircraft carrier in the neighborhood. As Things to Do Editor at Time Out New York, I can attest there are a lot of things to do in this neighborhood!
I haven’t lived here long enough to witness the massive changes the neighborhood has undergone, but I know from my research in the New York Public Library archives that where I live now was once an industrial area with warehouses, a gas station and railroad tracks. It certainly looks different today.
Given its tough reputation from the 1850s to the 1980s, the neighborhood truly earned its name “Hell’s Kitchen.” As The New York Times put it: “Hell’s Kitchen has a history that’s rich with gangsters and ghosts, streetwalkers and speakeasies, mysterious disappearances and gruesome murders.” While it’s not quite like that anymore (well, maybe a few ghosts still linger), it’s important that we don't forget the neighborhood's history.
One of the things I love the most about New York City is that many people could wax poetic for 1,000 words about their own neighborhood as I have, extolling its virtues and explaining why it's the “best.” No study can determine what's the actual best. It’s an impossible calculus that can't account for the personal factors in determining what makes a happy home, but I’m happy to add an entry into the list for my beloved Hell’s Kitchen.