By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN WEST — Hell's Kitchen and Clinton could one day have two historic districts if the members of Community Board 4's Landmarks committee have their way.
A combination of encroaching developments and few historically landmarked buildings in the area — compared to a well-preserved area like Chelsea — has spurred the committee into action. They believe the northern area of CB4 has generally been overlooked for preservation because it was historically seen as a poorer area in New York.
Although planning is in its infancy and the process is predicted to take years, the committee is looking at proposing a northern and a southern historical district.
"We felt there were a lot of old interesting buildings, but not many landmarks," said Ed Kirkland, the co-chair of the committee and local resident.
Kirkland said the city has been busy doling out landmark status to obvious buildings around Manhattan. Now, it was time to pay more attention to areas with a less glamorous, but altogether important, history, such as Clinton and Hell's Kitchen.
"It was not high society, but the people who lived there made a very important contribution to city," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
Berman said Hell's Kitchen and Clinton had "scruffy" histories because of the illegal activity that came with being in such close proximity to the docks.
"West Side Story is really based on life in Hell's Kitchen," Berman said. "It was where New York's toughness and creativity came together."
Kirkland said the northern district, which will capture the blocks around 50th Street, has many tenements that were considered downscale apartments when they were built in the second half of the 19th century.
"They are not under threat to some extent, but people are starting to change the exterior so the character is being lost," Kirkland said. "They are being re-faced."
The proposed southern district, between 34th and 42nd Street, is a mixed area of residential, institutional and commercial buildings.
"That is an area that is very different," Kirkland said. "There are lot of very handsome buildings there because 34th street became one of the main streets of New York City."
He said many of the manufactures that existed in the area, such as printing houses, took a lot of pride in their buildings so they brought in good architects.
Some of the buildings Kirkland hopes will be protected by the proposed historic districts include the New Yorker Hotel, which opened in 1930 and the Starrett Lehigh Building, built in 1931.
In a process that could take up to a decade, the CB4 committee have so far surveyed the area and completed primary research.
The committee is scheduled to have an initial discussion with the Landmarks Preservation Commission this Friday. Kirkland said much work needs to be completed, such as mustering the support of local residents before public hearings at the commission.
