When in New York: The SoHo District

Warmed, sated, and dim sum-filled in a Chinatown restaurant, we stepped out into New York City's cold winter day once more. Energized with Chinese food and armed with the basic kung fu tricks gained from the chopstick maneuvers over brunch, we were ready for another bout against the icy gusts of Manhattan. 

The journey around the Big Apple continued.

The visit to the oldest Chinese enclave in the Western Hemisphere was quick, but it was fun. The tea was warming, and the miniature mahjong set in my bag would be my memento of the place. It was after a few steps from the “cute” novelty shop that I realized the purchase was not such a great idea. Not only did it make my tote a few pounds heavier, but the travel-sized gambling implement was also available in my local Chinatown. It was a “pow” (to the non-mahjong players, it means a wrong declaration that will cost you). I have to live with the impulse purchase for the rest of the day tour.

The bad shopping decision was all forgotten when we crossed the boundary of “hell.”

This “hell” is far from what you would think. This hell is a stylish and chic address of one hundred acres where most of the New York locals prefer to live. The area may be your choice to settle in as well, should you decide to relocate to this part of the globe.

Long before SoHo came to be a du jour Manhattan neighborhood, it was a district known as the “Hell’s Hundred Acres” due to the many fires that occurred in the area. This was in the 19th century when the farmlands and rolling hills turned into a jungle of solid masonry and cast iron, when theaters, shops and brothels cropped up, and when the quality of the area came to a decline. It became an industrial wasteland where sweatshops and small factories thrived.

It was not until the mid-20th century when the artists flowed into the former manufacturing zone, where large spaces became available for them to work and eventually live in legally. 

Credits the artists for the area's popular moniker "SoHo." The name came about after the artistic crowd sought geographic identity. The area was referred to as the South of Houston (aka Houston Street) on the Planning Commission’s map, and taking their cue from this, they named their group the SoHo Artists Association.

God bless artists!

Soon enough, “SoHo” became the model, and the growing new neighborhood in NYC followed suit in naming their areas with acronyms. The North of Houston street became NoHo, TriBeCa came about from the “TRIangle BElow the CAnal Area,” the North of Little Italy gave birth to Nolita, and in Brooklyn emerged DUMBO, for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.”

Collectively, the five boroughs of New York City voted “I♥NY” as its official acronym. It became the most popular tag of all, a phenomenon and the biggest thing to happen in the city’s economy. No other t-shirt print in the history of New York City has sold more than these iconic letters.

Thank God, “Go to hell” didn’t become SoHo’s publicity tag line with reference to its past. What held on as reminders of the past are the buildings with cast iron as the distinguishing exterior architectural element incorporated into the building design, giving rise to another of the area’s monickers—the Cast Iron Historic District. This bit of the area’s history is worth adding to the tourist’s info, along with the knowledge that SoHo is one of the Big Apple’s popular shopping destinations.

New York City is such a wonderful city to explore, and SoHo is just one of the areas that's full of surprises. Maybe when you find yourself in the Big Apple, I suggest you "go to hell."