ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Just minutes from Central Park, Columbus Circle, Times Square and the Hudson River, The Hit Factory is located in the heart of the edgy area known as Hell's Kitchen. A separate neighborhood with its own identity, Hell's Kitchen also known as Clinton, is a pocket of old New York in the middle of bustling Manhattan - and yet it remains home to several nearby television and music studios.
ABOUT THE BUILDING HISTORY: In its day, bands and engineers jockeyed to record tracks and mix albums in its luxurious cutting-edge studios, earning The Hit Factory a world-wide reputation for producing landmark music and platinum sales. The procession of famous music artists who came through its doors comprises true rock royalty - The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Madonna, U2 and Mariah Carey. In 1994, The Hit Factory made recording history when 41 Grammy nominations were awarded to songs that were recorded, mastered or mixed on the state of the art equipment for which the Hit Factory became internationally famous.
Quick Profile
There is some mystery surrounding Hell’s Kitchen and how it got its name. There’s the tale about two policemen discussing how horrendous the neighborhood was back in 1880’s. The rookie cop turned to the veteran cop and said, “this place is hell.” The veteran cop replied, “No, this is hell’s kitchen.” Some say it's named after a notorious 19th century motorcycle gang. Even the historians will tell you the neighborhood's name has dubious origins.
Regardless of how it got its name, Hell’s Kitchen is here to stay.
Hell’s Kitchen is an iconic neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan. Its boundaries are 34th and 59th streets and 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. The neighborhood has a dense urban feel with plenty of bars, bodegas, restaurants and coffee shops. It’s inhabited by an eclectic mix of young professionals, long term residents from the old days, LGBQT community and members of the performing arts community - due to the highest number of off Broadway theatres in all of New York CIty.
From the early 1800’s to the 1980’s, Hell’s Kitchen held the title for one of the toughest neighborhoods in the city. In its early history it was populated by poor working class Irish and street gangs. Riots, violence, and crime were not uncommon. During prohibition times it was said that Hell’s Kitchen had more speakeasies than children.
Several attempts of neighborhood rebranding have taken place over the years. Clinton, Midtown West, and even the short-lived Hell’s Canyon are a few of the replacement names that have been used. Hell’s Kitchen has a lot of grit and no shortage of fortitude. A trendy name change seems doubtful.
Hell’s Kitchen benefited greatly from the Times Square clean up in the 1990’s. When crime rates lowered and adult theatres and prostitution disappeared, Times Square became less sleazier. Soon after, Hell’s Kitchen changed. The days of Gangsters, Irish immigrants, and rough and tumble housing tenements are part of its storied history. They’ve been replaced with bars, bodegas, restaurants, off broadway theatres, and luxury buildings. The recent completion of Hudson Yards and the Highline extension has brought new life into Hell’s Kitchen
Low-rises, brownstones, row houses and 5 to 6 floor walk ups with studio and one bedroom apartments are common in Hell’s Kitchen. The local zoning laws from previous years kept the building heights on the lower side. Over the past decade, developers have been granted exceptions to building height zoning laws and created more modern highrise developments.