Ethos

Garment District, Manhattan: Where Fashion Avenue Was Sewn

Garment District, New York

Pictures from Garment District

See all 3 photos →
Macy's Herald Square 39th Street and Ninth Avenue Fashion Avenue

The Garment District takes its name from the fashion manufacturing that once dominated it, packed into the roughly one square mile between Fifth and Ninth Avenues, 34th and 42nd Streets. By 1880 New York already produced more garments than its four closest urban rivals combined, and by 1910 the city made 70 percent of the nation's women's clothing and 40 percent of its men's — output that in 1900 ran three times ahead of the city's next-largest industry, sugar refining. Eastern European Jewish immigrants industrialized much of that production, memorialized today in Judith Weller's bronze statue 'The Garment Worker,' modeled on her own father, a sewing-machine operator, and installed on Seventh Avenue — itself nicknamed Fashion Avenue. The Garment District Alliance, a business-improvement district founded in 1993 as the Fashion Center BID, now oversees 24 blocks holding roughly 6,500 businesses and 75,000 employees, sustaining a manufacturing identity that has otherwise largely left Manhattan.

  1. A triangle park by Macy's flagship, with the Bennett memorial clock and free public programming.

  2. A 1984 bronze honoring the district's Jewish immigrant garment workers, beside a pop-art needle-and-button sculpture.

  3. A theater-book shop and cafe operating since 1917.

  4. An 1885 steakhouse famous for its mutton chop and ceiling of clay pipes.

  5. Tonkotsu ramen and tan tan men on West 36th Street.

  6. Local espresso and chocolate chip cookies since 2009.

  7. A rustic Italian trattoria open daily until midnight.

  8. A boutique hotel in a former hat factory, with four operating venues on site.

  9. An industrial-chic hotel with rooftop Empire State Building views.

A Neighborhood Built on Needles and Thread

The Garment Worker statue, roughly 6.5 feet of bronze depicting a worker in a yarmulke bent over a hand-operated sewing machine, has stood at Seventh Avenue and West 39th Street since its 1984 dedication by the ILGWU; it once shared its corner with a black kiosk shaped like a needle threading a button, removed in 2022 and replaced in February 2023 by a new bright-yellow sculpture of the same design. A few blocks north, the Drama Book Shop, founded in 1917, remains a mainstay of the New York theater scene, with an in-store cafe and author events. One block south of Herald Square Park, Greeley Square Park shares the same 34th Street Partnership upkeep — its own history, and Horace Greeley statue, are covered under this guide series' Koreatown entry.

Getting there by subway

The Garment District is ringed by some of the busiest stations in the system: A/C/E and 1/2/3 at 34th Street–Penn Station on its west side, and B/D/F/M plus N/Q/R/W at 34th Street–Herald Square (the system's third-busiest station as of 2019) on its east side, with Times Square–42nd Street at its northern edge. Note there is no free transfer between the two separate Penn Station subway stations.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to the Garment District by subway?
A/C/E and 1/2/3 stop at 34th Street–Penn Station on the west side; B/D/F/M and N/Q/R/W stop at 34th Street–Herald Square on the east side. The two Penn Station stations don't have a free transfer between them.
Where does the Garment District's name come from?
From the fashion manufacturing trade that once dominated the neighborhood — by 1910, New York City produced 70 percent of the nation's women's clothing and 40 percent of its men's, much of it made here.
What is the Garment Worker statue?
A bronze sculpture by Judith Weller, dedicated in 1984 at Seventh Avenue and West 39th Street, depicting a garment worker at a hand-operated sewing machine in honor of the neighborhood's Jewish immigrant workforce.
Where can I stay in the Garment District?
Refinery Hotel, in a former hat factory at 63 West 38th Street, and Archer Hotel New York, at 45 West 38th Street with a rooftop bar overlooking the Empire State Building, are both verified options.

Some booking links on this page earn Ethos a commission at no extra cost to you.