Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta and deriving from "North of
Little Italy",
[Roberts, Sam]
"New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year"
'' New York Times'' (February 21, 2011) is a neighborhood in the
borough of
Manhattan in
New York City. Nolita is situated in
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
, bounded on the north by
Houston Street, on the east by the
Bowery, on the south roughly by
Broome Street
Broome Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan. It runs nearly the full width of Manhattan island, from Hudson Street in the west to Lewis Street in the east, near the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. The street is interrupted in ...
, and on the west by
Lafayette Street.
It lies east of
SoHo, south of
NoHo, west of the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
, and north of
Little Italy and
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
.
History and description
The neighborhood was long regarded as part of Little Italy, but has lost its recognizable
Italian character in recent decades because of rapidly
rising rents.
The
Feast of San Gennaro, dedicated to
Saint Januarius ("Pope of Naples"), is held in the neighborhood every year following Labor Day, on
Mulberry Street between Houston and
Grand Streets. The feast, as recreated on
Elizabeth Street between
Prince and Houston Streets, was featured in the film ''
The Godfather Part II''.
In the second half of the 1990s, the neighborhood saw an influx of
yuppies and an explosion of expensive retail boutiques and restaurants and bars.
After unsuccessful tries to pitch it as part of SoHo, real estate promoters and others came up with several different names for consideration for this newly upscale neighborhood. The name that stuck, as documented in an article on May 5, 1996, in the ''
New York Times'' city section debating various monikers for the newly trendy area, was ''Nolita'', an abbreviation for North of Little Italy. This name follows the pattern started by
SoHo (South of Houston Street) and
TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street).
The neighborhood includes
St. Patrick's Old Cathedral
The Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, sometimes shortened to St. Patrick's Old Cathedral or simply Old St. Patrick's, is a Catholic parish church, basilica, and the former cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York, located in the Nolita ...
, at the intersection of Mulberry,
Mott, and
Prince Streets, which opened in 1815 and was rebuilt in 1868 after a fire.
The cornerstone was laid on June 8, 1809. This building served as New York City's
Roman Catholic cathedral until the new
St. Patrick's Cathedral was opened on
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
in
Midtown in 1879. St. Patrick's Old Cathedral is now a
parish church. In 2010, St. Patrick's Old Cathedral was honored and became The Basilica at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.
The
Puck Building, a nine-story-high ornate structure built in 1885 on the corner of Houston and Lafayette Streets, originally housed the headquarters of the now-defunct ''
Puck'' Magazine.
Since 2010, a
Little Australia has emerged and is growing in Nolita on
Mulberry Street and
Mott Street.
Notable residents
*
David Bowie and his wife,
Iman
Iman, Imann, Imaan, Eman, Emaan, or Imman may refer to:
Places
* Iman, Iran, a village in Kalashi District, Kermanshah Province
* The Iman River, the former name of the Bolshaya Ussurka River, a tributary of the Ussuri River in Russia's Primors ...
, had a home in Nolita.
* Actor
Gabriel Byrne lives in Nolita.
* Singer-songwriter
Vanessa Carlton; her song "
Nolita Fairytale
"Nolita Fairytale" is a song by Vanessa Carlton, the first single from her third album, ''Heroes & Thieves'', released digitally on the iTunes Store and to American radio stations on July 17, 2007. " was inspired by the neighborhood.
* Musician
Moby
Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...
lived in Nolita.
* Singer-songwriter
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
owns an apartment in Nolita, and it was featured in ''
Elle Decor'' magazine.
*
Martin Scorsese was born in Queens but raised in the neighborhood on
Elizabeth Street between Prince and Houston, where his grandparents (Italian immigrants) also lived. It was part of
Little Italy at that time.
* Actor
David Harbour has a loft in Nolita.
Architectural Digest. Published Nov 14, 2019.
Gallery
File:Odd Fellows Hall 165-171 Grand Street.jpg, Odd Fellows Hall (New York City), Odd Fellows Hall
File:Saint Pats Old Cathedral Manh jeh.JPG, St. Patrick's Old Cathedral
The Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, sometimes shortened to St. Patrick's Old Cathedral or simply Old St. Patrick's, is a Catholic parish church, basilica, and the former cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York, located in the Nolita ...
File:St. Patrick's Convent and Girls' School.jpg, St. Patrick's Old Cathedral School
St. Patrick's Old Cathedral School, at 32 Prince Street between Mulberry Street (Manhattan), Mulberry and Mott Street (Manhattan), Mott Streets in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was a Roman Catholic Pre-K through 8th grade ...
File:WTM3 Gnarly 0165.jpg, 14th Ward Industrial School, designed by Calvert Vaux
File:St. Michael's Russian Catholic Church.jpg, St. Michael's Russian Catholic Church
File:Bowery_Mural-20201031-KIA01320.jpg, Mural on East Houston Street and Bowery
File:The Bowery Historic District-20201031-KIA01522.jpg, The Bowery Mission
The Bowery Mission is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides hot meals, overnight shelter, and faith-based residential programs for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. Its purpose statement reads: "The Bowery Mission exists to promote the flour ...
See also
* Little Australia
References
Notes
External links
* Elizabeth Street Garden
{{Authority control
Australian American
Italian-American culture in New York City
Little Italys in the United States
Neighborhoods in Manhattan