By Karen Sternheimer
Before there was the reality cooking show and restaurants of the same name, Hell’s Kitchen was a New York neighborhood on the westside of midtown Manhattan. Now often called Clinton or Midtown West, the more colorful name represented the once rough-and-tumble community just west of the theater district, from Eighth Avenue to the Hudson River, and approximately West 34th to West 59th Streets.
The origins of the name aren’t entirely clear, but it likely reflected the gang violence that once dominated the area, filled with crowded, dangerous tenement buildings. “Hell’s Kitchen” evokes a sense of discomfort, to say the least. Like many cities in the nineteenth century, new immigrants often found work in local slaughterhouses and on nearby docks, as well as breweries that once operated in the neighborhood. The work was difficult and dangerous, and often controlled by the mob. With jobs in the area for working-class people, the community was likely one that new immigrants flocked to and more affluent families stayed away from.
In the twentieth century, public housing projects concentrated poverty in this neighborhood. And with the eventual decline of shipping into Manhattan and relocation of the slaughterhouses that once provided jobs, the area declined further.
Historically, work has shaped communities. The types of jobs available impact who lives there and how appealing local housing might be. Imagine the sights and smells of a neighborhood with docks, breweries and slaughterhouses. Local businesses cater to workers and residents; when work disappears, so do amenities like restaurants, shops, and even grocery stores, pushing a community into further decline.
This backstory would be unrecognizable to a visitor to the neighborhood today, decades later. Transformations are not necessarily fast, but over the past 30 years many neighborhoods like Hell’s Kitchen have experienced gentrification, pushing out many long-time residents. New museums, parks, and other developments have made the area attractive to wealthier residents and visitors.
Walking here to escape the crowds and hyper-touristy shops of Times Square is a relief. You see locals, small restaurants and markets rather than souvenir shops and pedicabs blasting music, eager for tourists to hop on. The slaughterhouses are long gone, and the piers are places to catch a tour of the New York harbor rather than unload a cargo ship. The river features a bike path and space for pedestrians. High-end auto dealerships with showrooms appear as you approach the river and the West Side Highway.
Like much of Manhattan, the high cost of housing and real estate in general has transformed the most economically depressed areas—eliminating many working-class jobs and replacing them with low-wage service work. Riverfront developments and remodels meant to attract investors and the wealthy are visible throughout the area. A spacious townhouse with high-end finishes is currently being offered at $12.5 million a few blocks from the river. If that’s too much, another home is being offered at $11.75 million a few blocks away. Less expensive homes are available too; a 500 square foot studio in the area is $630,000.
Local jobs are no longer central in defining this neighborhood, as they were a century ago. Residents might work in other parts of the city and commute, that is if they commute at all. Remote work has disconnected work and communities. For many white-collar workers, the need to live near work is no longer as strong as it once was, particularly before the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 pushed so many people to work online.
Even white-collar jobs are at risk, as this sign on a building in Hell’s Kitchen pictured below promises, obviously targeted at employers rather than workers. I found the haunting blank stare of the bot chilling, especially in this once gritty neighborhood. Previously occupied by longshoremen, machine operators, and slaughterhouse workers, this sign indicates how completely the denizens of this neighborhood have changed.
Sign on a building in Hell’s Kitchen. Photo courtesy of the author.
As I wrote about Artificial Intelligence (AI) last year, the future of work is bound in its ability to complete tasks better, or at least more cheaply, than humans. What kinds of jobs will be impacted are still to be determined. But we seldom think about how this change might alter communities, and how the kinds of work people do shape them.
People in what were once manufacturing towns have been seeing this shift now for decades, when an industry that once provided stable employment to many goes away, so do many of its people. Hell’s Kitchen, and most of Manhattan, is likely to remain unaffordable for many. It’s appeal to foreign investors keep the value high. Limited space on this densely populated island helps too; in 2020 nearly 1.7 million people resided on a less than 23 square miles of land.
Decades from now, sociologists will likely study how work has changed, and how these shifts impact communities. How have changes in the workforce changed communities near you?