Hell's Kitchen Gained 8,300 New Homes Since 2010: Study

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — During a decade of rapid development in New York City, few neighborhoods gained as much new housing as Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea, which collectively added more than 14,000 new units since 2010, a new analysis found.

Community District 4, which stretches along Manhattan's West Side between 59th and 14th streets, gained 14,460 new housing units over that 10-year stretch — taking into account building demolitions and mergers of existing apartments that offset some of the new construction.

The gains in CD4 were the third-highest of any New York City district during that time, trailing only two areas in northern Brooklyn, according to the study by the Department of City Planning.

Those totals include more than 8,300 new units built in Clinton, the city's designated name for Hell's Kitchen, bounded by 58th and 38th streets to the north and south, and Eighth Avenue and the Hudson River to the east and west. Only two neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens had a higher net gain.

The West Side's numbers stand in stark contrast to the minimal gains seen in a few neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, where demolitions and mergers nearly erased all new housing gains since 2010.

The study was based on filings with the Department of Buildings starting Jan. 1, 2010 through June 1, 2020.

Minimal gains in some neighborhoods, which were first reported by THE CITY, may embolden advocates who are pushing to rezone wealthier neighborhoods in order to build more housing.

The white whale in that fight is SoHo, where Mayor Bill de Blasio, several mayoral candidates and a cohort of pro-development groups have gotten behind a proposal to build more affordable housing — encountering stiff opposition from preservationists.

Under de Blasio's administration, most rezonings have occurred in lower-income areas like East Harlem and Inwood, fueling fears that longtime residents would be displaced.