Like tiny Eastern European breakaway republics, the plethora of newly named neighborhoods carved out of older, existing neighborhoods is emerging as these enclaves proclaim their own identity, their own independence and their own real estate price brackets.
Yet how, when and by whom these emerging enclaves get pegged with an appellation is hardly a science. In fact, it s more of a free-for-all, with names sprouting up first amongst real estate brokers, developers and then the media. A case in point is the neighborhood between Chelsea and Clinton, which has been called everything from Chelsea Heights to Hell s Pantry and NoChel.
Typically, the allure of being associated with the happening neighborhood next door explains why brokers seek to rebrand existing names such as Chelsea Heights or North Chelsea.
Abbreviated geographically based names such as SoHo, TriBeCa and NoHo have spawned lesser offspring as well, in hopes (usually the hopes of real estate brokers) that those neighborhoods will also attain a certain cachet.
Take NoBat, for example, or North of Battery Tunnel, a name recently coined by a broker (pictured on cover page; also see “Post 9/11 Transplants Say Yes to NoBat” in this issue).
That approach appeals to brokers like Tim Melzer of Douglas Elliman, who said he wanted to call the area now known as Hudson Square by the catchy appellation NoCal, for north of Canal Street.
The approach doesn t work in all cases.
“That sounds like a soda pop to me,” said Jason Pizer, director of commercial leasing with Trinity Real Estate, which, as the largest real estate owner in the area, is credited with currying favor with the city in order to get the Hudson Square moniker to stick.
“It s been called Hudson Square for about 200 years,” Pizer said. “I like the way it sounds – strong, sophisticated, and from a historical perspective it identifies the area by its true name. It s not something we invented. We just dug it out of the files and dusted it off.”
Of course, attempting to resurrect a historical name doesn t guarantee it will catch on. For years, the Rose Hill community association labored in vain to revive that name for the area between 23rd and 34th and Madison and Third Avenues. The Rose Hill farm ranged through the area in the 1870s, but has since been subdivided into Kips Bay, the Flatiron District, Gramercy Park and Murray Hill. The revival attempt has met with only limited success.
Elsewhere, community residents have been successful in setting their neighborhoods apart from neighboring blocks. In Hudson Heights, an enclave in the northwestern section of Washington Heights, residents have effectively established a separate identity, with an eye to property values.
“It wasn t real estate brokers who came up with the name,” said Simone Song, owner of Simone Song Realty. “It was the shareholders up here who gathered together to form the Hudson Heights Owners Coalition. They wanted to keep up their neighborhood.”
Over in Brooklyn, Lee Solomon of William B. May says a slew of new neighborhood names are popping up, fueled in part by booming real estate values that continue to push folks further and further out into the fringes. According to Solomon, everyone from homeowner associations to residents and the city landmark commission have influenced the delineation of “new” neighborhood boundaries.
“I think it s happening organically,” she said, “and I d like to think that s because there s a great deal of concern for the existing community.”