Ethos

Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan: From Gopher Gang to Restaurant Row

Hell's Kitchen, New York

Pictures from Hell's Kitchen

See all 3 photos →
Ninth Avenue Street Scene Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum DeWitt Clinton Park

Hell's Kitchen's name first appeared in print on September 22, 1881, when a New York Times reporter used it to describe an infamous tenement at 39th Street and Tenth Avenue — though a rival story credits a veteran policeman, "Dutch Fred the Cop," who told his rookie partner watching a riot nearby, "This is Hell's Kitchen." Irish immigrants fleeing the famine had settled the docks and the Hudson River Railroad's route in the mid-1800s, and post-Civil War tenements grew severely overcrowded as tanneries and slaughterhouses industrialized the district. The neighborhood was long defined by organized crime: the Gopher Gang ruled at the turn of the 20th century, Prohibition turned warehouses into bootleg distilleries after 1919, and by 1965 the Irish-American Westies operated in league with the Gambino family. A 1959 rebranding as "Clinton" never stuck; residents kept the older name. Today it's also home to the Actors Studio and Manhattan Plaza's subsidized artist housing.

  1. A WWII aircraft carrier turned museum, with the space shuttle Enterprise and a Concorde.

  2. The neighborhood's largest park, and the source of its short-lived "Clinton" nickname.

  3. A 1927 opera house turned legendary disco club, now a Roundabout Theatre Company home.

  4. Shophouse-style Thai noodles from a family recipe on Ninth Avenue.

  5. Danji

    food

    Korean small plates known for bulgogi sliders and crispy tofu rolls.

  6. Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza from an award-winning master pizzaiola.

  7. The flagship location of this artisan bread and Roman-style pizza bakery.

  8. Compact pod rooms and apartment-style units near 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue.

From Tenements to the Westies

Hell's Kitchen urbanized in the mid-1800s when Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine built shantytowns along the Hudson River docks and the new Hudson River Railroad, whose first 40-mile leg to Peekskill was completed September 29, 1849. Tenements became severely overcrowded after the Civil War as the district industrialized with tanneries and slaughterhouses, and organized crime took root: the Gopher Gang, led first by One Lung Curran and then Owney Madden, controlled the neighborhood at the start of the 20th century; Prohibition-era warehouses became bootleg distilleries after 1919; and by 1965 the Westies, an Irish mob aligned with the Gambino crime family, operated from the neighborhood. In 1959, city boosters tried renaming the area "Clinton" after DeWitt Clinton Park, but residents never gave up "Hell's Kitchen."

An Anchor for the Arts

The neighborhood became a performing-arts hub in its own right: the Actors Studio on West 44th Street is the storied home of method-acting training, and Manhattan Plaza on West 43rd Street was built in the 1970s as subsidized housing for artists and performers. Studio 54, built as the Gallo Opera House in 1927 and legendary as a disco-era nightclub in the late 1970s, has been a permanent Broadway home of the Roundabout Theatre Company since 1998.

Getting there by subway

Hell's Kitchen has no subway line running through its center. Riders use the A/C/E along Eighth Avenue on the eastern edge, notably at 42 St-Port Authority Bus Terminal, and the 7 train's southern terminal at 34 St-Hudson Yards, opened September 13, 2015; crosstown buses like the M42 and M50 cover the interior blocks between the two.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to Hell's Kitchen by subway?
There's no line through the neighborhood's center. Use the A/C/E along Eighth Avenue, notably at 42 St-Port Authority Bus Terminal, or the 7 train at 34 St-Hudson Yards on the southern end, and cover the interior blocks with crosstown buses like the M42 or M50.
Where does the name "Hell's Kitchen" come from?
It first appeared in print on September 22, 1881, describing an infamous tenement at 39th Street and Tenth Avenue. A rival story credits veteran policeman "Dutch Fred the Cop," who told his rookie partner watching a riot there, "This is Hell's Kitchen."
Is Hell's Kitchen still called "Clinton"?
The name "Clinton" was adopted in 1959, taken from DeWitt Clinton Park, in an effort to rehabilitate the area's image — but residents have always preferred "Hell's Kitchen."
What's inside the Intrepid Museum?
Built around the WWII aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, it displays the space shuttle Enterprise, the submarine Growler, a Concorde, and dozens of military aircraft on Pier 86 at the Hudson River.
Where can I stay in Hell's Kitchen?
Pod Times Square, at 400 West 42nd Street, is the verified in-neighborhood option, with compact pod rooms, apartment-style units, and on-site Bar 42 & Pizzoteca.

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