NoHo, Manhattan

thumb|right|300px|Looking westward along [[Bond Street (Manhattan)|Bond Street in NoHo]]

NoHo, short for "North of Houston Street" (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by Mercer Street to the west, the Bowery to the east, 9th Street to the north, and Houston Street to the south.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has declared most of the 125-building area a historic district, divided into the NoHo Historic District and the NoHo East Historic District, created in 2003.

History

In 1748, Jacob Sperry, a physician from Switzerland, created the city's first botanical garden near the current intersection of Lafayette Street and Astor Place. At the time, it was located about north of the developed portion of the city and served as a vacation stop for people from present-day downtown. By 1804, John Jacob Astor bought the site from Sperry and leased it to Joseph Delacroix. the gardens had previously been located further downtown, in Tribeca. Because of rapid development on Bond, Bleecker, and Great Jones Streets, it was not affordable to build houses on these streets. These streets were among the city's most elite at the time, and contained such personalities as "aristocratic" mayor Philip Hone. Therefore, in 1826, after Delacroix's lease expired, Astor carved out an upper-class neighborhood from the site with Lafayette Street bisecting eastern gardens from western homes. The street was christened by the Marquis de Lafayette in July 1825. This location made the Gardens accessible to residents of nearby Broadway and the Bowery. The houses once contained such notable residents as the Astor family and the Vanderbilt family, in addition to authors Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, and William Makepeace Thackeray. U.S. President John Tyler was married in these houses. By the 20th century, warehouses and manufacturing firms moved in. Consequently the elite moved to places such as Murray Hill, and the area fell into disrepair. The neighborhood became mainly a manufacturing district by the 1880s, especially around the relatively wide Bond Street. in homage to the mansions that formerly occupied the area.

thumb|left|[[National Florence Crittenton Mission, 21 Bleecker Street, 1893]]

Not all of NoHo was built for and by the rich and (now) famous. Two Federal architecture-style row houses on the easternmost block of Bleecker Street were once the home of the National Florence Crittenton Mission, providing a home for "fallen women". 21 Bleecker Street's entrance now bears the lettering "Florence Night Mission", described by The New York Times in 1883 as "a row of houses of the lowest character". The National Florence Crittenton Mission was an organization established in 1883 by philanthropist Charles N. Crittenton. It attempted to reform prostitutes and unwed pregnant women through the creation of establishments where they were to live and learn skills.

That same block of Bleecker Street, between Lafayette and Bowery Streets in NoHo, is also home to both the Margaret Sanger Health Center, headquarters of Planned Parenthood, and the Catholic Sheen Center, immediately adjacent to it. Bleecker Street was the home of Sanger's original Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau, operated from another building from 1930 to 1973. Bleecker Street now features Margaret Sanger Square, at the intersection with Mott Street.

After World War II, manufacturing companies moved out of New York City and to the suburbs. By the 1950s, these spaces were rented to artists and small theatre companies. The artists had to go through extensive litigation to live and work in these spaces. Chuck Close, who lived next to him; As artists began to rent lofts in the neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s, the name NoHo came into use to distinguish it from nearby SoHo. Previously, the area now comprising NoHo, SoHo, and eastern Tribeca was known as the warehouse district.

The NoHo Historic District was expanded in 2008. Additionally, another district in the neighborhood, the NoHo East Historic District, was created in 2003. The designations followed considerable effort by and strong support from numerous local community and preservation groups, including the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and Historic Districts Council, and together, they form a contiguous area of landmarked buildings over 21 city blocks. The 2008 extension is bounded on the west by Lafayette Street, on the east by the Bowery, on the north by East Fourth Street and on the south by Bond Street. It includes 56 buildings and a mid-block parking lot to the south and east of the existing Noho Historic District. Preservationists including City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Historic Districts Council and the Museum itself fought the proposed hotel for years due to concern for the intact survival of the Merchant's House. The LPC approved it over the objections of engineers and architects.

Gentrification

In the 2000s and 2010s, NoHo and its southern neighbor, SoHo, experienced rapid gentrification. Since NoHo is primarily made up of loft apartments, this in turn makes it one of the most expensive and desirable neighborhoods in Manhattan. Its small size and central location also contributes to a high demand, again keeping prices high.

Notable places

thumb|left|240px|[[The Public Theater is housed in the Astor Library Building.]]

Some individual landmarks in the NoHo Historic District include the Bouwerie Lane Theater, the Bayard-Condict Building, the De Vinne Press Building. Two New York City Subway stations, Astor Place and Bleecker Street, are also landmarked. The only survivor of the 19th-century upper-class era is half of the original Colonnade Row, which is also landmarked. The Gene Frankel Theater, established in 1949, is located in the landmarked 24 Bond Street building, built in 1893.

The easternmost block of Bleecker Street houses the last remaining Federal architecture-style row houses, including two that were once the home of the Florence Night Mission, which provided a home for "fallen women". (21 Bleecker Street's entrance now bears the lettering in the flooring.) The block also houses the Planned Parenthood headquarters at the Margaret Sanger Square, adjacent to a Catholic event center.

Notable residents

thumb|180px|[[Emily Ratajkowski]]

thumb|180px|[[Liev Schreiber]]

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988), artist
Jessica Chastain (born 1977), actress and producer
Chuck Close (1940–2021), painter, artist and photographer
Sheryl Crow (born 1962), musician and actress
Peter Cunningham, photographer, and Ara Fitzgerald
Hanna Eshel (1926–2023), sculptor
Robert Frank (1924–2019), married to June Leaf (at 7 Bleecker Street)
Gigi Hadid (born 1995), model
Glen Hansard lived at 21 Bleecker Street
Jonah Hill (born 1983), actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian.
Lauren Hutton (born 1943), model and actress
Zach Iscol (born 1978), US Marine Corps veteran, entrepreneur, candidate in the 2021 New York City Comptroller election
June Leaf (1929–2024), married to Robert Frank (at 7 Bleecker Street)
Dua Lipa (born 1995), singer and songwriter (at 21 Bleecker Street, 2019–2020)
Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989), photographer
Miles McMillan (born 1989), model, actor, and painter
Cynthia Nixon (born 1966), actress and activist
Glenn O'Brien (1947–2017), writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion
Zachary Quinto (born 1977), actor and film producer
Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008), painter and graphic artist
Liev Schreiber (born 1967), actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
Stéphane Sednaoui (born 1963), director, photographer, film producer, and actor
Alexander Soros (born 1985), philanthropist, lived near Astor Place
Britney Spears (born 1981), singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress
Cameron Winklevoss (born 1981), Olympic rower, cryptocurrency investor, and entrepreneur

Gallery

File:687-691 Broadway.jpg|687–691 Broadway/250–254 Mercer Street was designed by J. A. Wood and built from 1885 to 1888

File:SullivanNY1.jpg|Facade of Louis Sullivan's Bayard–Condict Building (built 1897–99) at 65 Bleecker Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street

File:Margaret Sanger Square Planned Parenthood.jpg|Planned Parenthood headquarters on Bleecker Street's Margaret Sanger Square

File:330 Bowery bank-theater-store.jpg|The Bouwerie Lane Theatre's Bowery facade

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References

External links

NoHo Historic District at the New York City Landmarks Commission
NOHO NY Business Improvement District