NoHo, short for North of Houston Street (as contrasted with

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. It is bounded by Mercer Street to the west and the

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. ...

to the east, and from East 9th Street in the north to East Houston Street in the south. The

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

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 A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

near the current intersection of

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...

and

Astor Place Astor Place is a one-block street in NoHo/ East Village, in the lower part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from Broadway in the west (just below East 8th Street) to Lafayette Street. The street encompasses two plazas at ...

. 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 John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by History of opium in China, smuggl ...

bought the site from Sperry and leased it to Joseph Delacroix. Delacroix built a country resort named

Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, being ...

on the site; the gardens had previously been located further downtown, in

Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stree ...

. NoHo soon became an enclave for well-to-do families. Because of rapid development on

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

, 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 Philip Hone (October 25, 1780 – May 5, 1851) was Mayor of New York City from 1826 to 1827.Minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York, 1784-1831. Volume XV, November 10, 1825 to December 25, 1826'. New York: City of New York, 1917. p. ...

. Therefore, in 1826, after Delacroix's lease expired, Astor carved out an upper-class neighborhood from the site with

bisecting eastern gardens from western homes. The street was christened by the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

in July 1825. Colonnade Row north clean jeh

Wealthy New Yorkers, including Astor and other members of the family, built mansions along this central thoroughfare. Astor built the

Astor Library The Astor Library was a free public library in the East Village, Manhattan, developed primarily through the collaboration of New York City merchant John Jacob Astor and New England educator and bibliographer Joseph Cogswell. It was primarily ...

in the eastern portion of the neighborhood as a donation to the city.

Alexander Jackson Davis Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style. Education Davis was born in New York City and studied at ...

designed eye-catching row houses called LaGrange Terrace (now

Colonnade Row Colonnade Row, also known as LaGrange Terrace, on present-day Lafayette Street in New York City's NoHo neighborhood, is a landmarked series of Greek revival buildings originally built in the early 1830s. They are believed to have been built by ...

) for speculative builder Seth Geer. Geer built the houses for the development in 1833. The area became a fashionable, upper-class residential district, and when

was opened in the 1820s, it quickly became one of the most fashionable streets in New York.Henderson, Mary C. (2004). ''The City and the Theatre: The History of New York Playhouses, a 250-year Journey from Bowling Green to Times Square''. New York City: Back Stage Books. . This location made the Gardens accessible to the residents of nearby

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and the

.Caldwell, Mark (2005). ''New York Night: The Mystique and Its History''. New York City: Scribner. . The houses once contained such notable residents as the

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps region of Italy by way of Germany, the Astors settled ...

and the

Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...

, in addition to authors

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, and

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

; U.S. President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...

was married in these houses. In the summer of 1838, the garden's owners opened a saloon for the staging of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

comic operas. Later theatre managers expanded the offerings to appeal to a wider range of patrons. By 1850, the rowdier crowds of the Bowery had mostly scared off the upper classes, and fewer people came to the Vauxhall Gardens. The theater buildings were demolished in 1855, and the gardens closed for the last time in 1859. Even so, wealthy New Yorkers lived here through the end of the 19th century. Editor and poet

William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...

and inventor and entrepreneur

Isaac Singer Isaac Merritt Singer (October 27, 1811 – July 23, 1875) was an American inventor, actor, and businessman. He made important improvements in the design of the sewing machine and was the founder of what became one of the first American multi-n ...

lived in the neighborhood in the 1880s. By the 20th century, however, warehouses and manufacturing firms moved in, 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.

Terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

and brick " loft" buildings were among the new buildings being constructed in this time, and construction of such buildings continued into the 1890s, in the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

architectural style in homage to the mansions that formerly occupied the area. The demolition of upper-class buildings continued, and by 1902, the southernmost five mansions on Colonnade Row were demolished for the Wanamaker's Department Store annex. Most of the mansions on Bond Street, though, lasted through the 1930s.Gray, Christopher
"Streetscapes / Bond Street From Lafayette Street to the Bowery; A Block That Offers the Quintessence of NoHo"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', January 17, 1999. Accessed August 18, 2015. (King1893NYC) pg445 FLORENCE CRITTENTON MISSION, 21 BLEECKER STREET

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 The National Florence Crittenton Mission was an organization established in 1883 by 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 ...

, providing a home for "fallen women". 21 Bleecker Street's entrance now bears the lettering "Florence Night Mission," described by the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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 Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown's unofficial " Main Street". Mott Street runs from Bleecker Street in the north to ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, 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. By 1960, there were more artist residents than businesses in these loft spaces. Among the famous artist residents at the time were Robert Mapplethorpe, who bought a loft in NoHo;

Chuck Close Charles Thomas Close (July 5, 1940 – August 19, 2021) was an American painter, visual artist, and photographer who made massive-scale photorealist and abstract portraits of himself and others. Close also created photo portraits using a very l ...

, who lived next to him; and street artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

. The neighborhood was revitalized beginning in the late 1960s and 1970s. 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 This is a list of notable warehouse districts. A warehouse district or warehouse row is an area found in many urban setting known for being the current or former location of numerous warehouses. Logistically, warehouses are often located in indust ...

. The art movement of the 1970s and the preservation movements of the 1990s and 2000s also helped to revitalize the area.

Preservation

The area was declared an official city historic district by the

in 1999. From its designation report: 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 Village Preservation (formerly the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, or GVSHP) is a non-profit organization which advocates for the preservation of architecture and culture in several neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, New York. ...

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. It does not include 30 Great Jones Street, a historic building that was partially demolished in early 2008. Most of the buildings in the extension were built between the 1860s and the early 1900s, when the area had become one of the city's major commercial and manufacturing districts. By the late 1800s, larger commercial lofts in the Greek Revival style became the dominant building type. WTM tony 0079

The

Merchant's House Museum The Merchant's House Museum, known formerly as the Old Merchant's House and as the Seabury Tredwell House, is the only nineteenth-century family home in New York City preserved intact—both inside and out. Built "on speculation" in 1832 by ...

, at 29 East Fourth Street, is an individual historic building located just outside the eastern boundary of the Historic District. It is also a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Both the inside and outside of this 1832 house have been restored to the mid-19th century style in which merchant Seabury Tredwell and his family lived. Despite the fragility of the structure, in April 2014 the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved construction of an eight-story hotel immediately next door. 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,

, has experienced rapid

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

. 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. In 2014, a one-bedroom loft could rent at an average monthly rate of US$4,000.

Notable places

Some individual landmarks in the NoHo Historic District include the

, the Bouwerie Lane Theater, the Bayard-Condict Building, the De Vinne Press Building. Two New York City Subway stations,

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. Across from Colonnade Row is

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

. 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

MJK 08465 Liev Schreiber (Berlinale 2018)

* Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), artist. * Jessica Chastain (born 1977), actress and producer *

(1940-2021), painter, artist and photographer * Sheryl Crow (born 1962), musician and actress * Peter Cunningham, photographer *

Gigi Hadid Jelena Noura "Gigi" Hadid ( ; born April 23, 1995) is an American model and television personality. In November 2014, she made her debut in the Top 50 Models ranking at Models.com. In 2016, she was named International Model of the Year by the ...

(born 1995), model *

Glen Hansard Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top te ...

lived at 21 Bleecker Street *

Jonah Hill Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad'' (2007), '' Knocked Up'' (2007), '' 21 Jump Street'' (2012), '' This Is the End'' (201 ...

(born 1983), actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian. * Lauren Hutton (born 1943), model and actress *

Zach Iscol Zach Iscol (born August 18, 1978) is an American civil servant, non-profit executive, politician, and armed forces veteran who serves as Commissioner of New York City Emergency Management. Iscol is a United States Marine veteran and was a D ...

(born 1978), US Marine Corps veteran, entrepreneur, candidate in the

2021 New York City Comptroller election The 2021 New York City Comptroller election consisted of Democratic and Republican primaries for New York City Comptroller on June 22, 2021, followed by a general election on November 2, 2021. The primaries were the first NYC Comptroller electio ...

Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a pri ...

(born 1981), investor, real estate developer, newspaper publisher, former senior advisor to President Trump * Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989), photographerKenneth T. Jackson, Lisa Keller, Nancy Flood (2010)
''The Encyclopedia of New York City''
Second Edition, Yale University Press. * Miles McMillan (born 1989), model, actor, and painter *

Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...

(born 1966), actress and activist *

Emily Ratajkowski Emily O'Hara Ratajkowski (, ; born June 7, 1991) is an American model and actress. Born in London to American parents and raised in Encinitas, California, Ratajkowski began acting as a child before she gained a recurring role on the Nickelodeon ...

(born 1991), model and actress * Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008), painter and graphic artist *

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

(born 1943), musician, singer, and songwriter * Suze Rotolo (1943–2011), artist *

Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywo ...

(born 1967), actor, director, screenwriter, and producer *

Stéphane Sednaoui Stéphane Sednaoui () is a French director, photographer, film producer and actor. Over the years, Sednaoui has redefined his artistic approach to focus on his fine-art and cinematographic projects. New and existing work have been exhibited ...

(born 1963), director, photographer, film producer, and actor * Britney Spears (born 1981), singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress *

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York City. Biography Frank Stella was born in Ma ...

(born 1936), painter, sculptor, and printmaker *

Kristen Stewart Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...

(born 1990), actress and filmmaker *

Zachary Quinto Zachary John Quinto (; born June 2, 1977) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his roles as Sylar, the primary antagonist from the science fiction drama series '' Heroes'' (2006–2010); Spock in the film ''Star Trek'' (2009) ...

(born 1977), actor and film producer *

Jean-Claude van Itallie Jean-Claude van Itallie (May 25, 1936 – September 9, 2021) was a Belgian-born American playwright, performer, and theatre workshop teacher. He is best known for his 1966 anti-Vietnam War play ''America Hurrah;'' ''The Serpent'', an ensemble ...

lived at 21 Bleecker Street *

Cameron Winklevoss Cameron Howard Winklevoss (born August 21, 1981) is an American cryptocurrency investor and Olympic rower, who (with his brother) founded Winklevoss Capital Management and Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. He competed in the men's pair rowing eve ...

(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 John A. Wood (June 11, 1837 – December 18, 1910), was an American architect . His work in upstate New York included projects in Poughkeepsie and Kingston, New York as well as four armories, in Kingston, Newburgh, Bethel, and Watertown. His wo ...

and built from 1885 to 1888 File:SullivanNY1.jpg, Facade of

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...

Bayard–Condict Building The Bayard–Condict Building at 65 Bleecker Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street, at the head of Crosby Street in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City is the only work of architect Louis Sullivan in New York City. It was ...

(built 1897–99) at 65 Bleecker Street between

and

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 The Bouwerie Lane Theatre is a former bank building which became an Off-Broadway theatre, located at 330 Bowery at Bond Street in Manhattan, New York City. It is located in the NoHo Historic District. The cast-iron building, which was constructed ...

facade

References

External links

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

NoHo Manhattan
{{Manhattan Neighborhoods in Manhattan Lower Manhattan Cast-iron architecture in New York City Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Historic districts in Lower Manhattan National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan