SoHo

SoHo is a neighborhood in Manhattan that got its name from being "south of Houston Street". It probably began with SoHo, and the practice of using portmanteau as place name spewed other similarly named neighborhoods in Manhattan, among them TriBeCa, NoLIta and DUMBO.

The SoHo of New York City is totally unrelated to the Soho in London. The area was formland in the 19th century, but has become a bohemian enclave by the mid-20th century, when it attracted artists looking for space to work and live, as well as low rentals.

SoHo, Manhattan
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NYC_SoHo_Green_Street.jpg
Author: Andreas Praefcke


The popularity that the artists gave to SoHo led to it becoming gentrified - and famous, and expensive. Today SoHo has metamorphosed into a trendy shopping destination. It is particularly well known for its many buildings incorporating cast iron architectural elements, so much so that it was formerly known as the Cast Iron District.

SoHo is generally regarded as the area bounded by Houston Street to the north, Lafayette Street to the east, Canal Street to the south, and the West Side Highway on the west. Purists however insist that the western border of SoHo is at West Broadway, not at West Side Highway, as the area west of West Broadway should be correctly known as South Village. On the east side of SoHo, that is to say, to the east of Lafayette Street, is the northern part of Little Italy, now more commonly called NoLIta.

159-161 Mercer St, SoHo, Manhattan
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:159-161_Mercer_Street.jpg
Author: Beyond My Ken


SoHo was saved from demolition that had fallen the original Pennsylvania Station and other historic structures. In the 1960's, there was a plan to make the SoHo area the site of two enormous elevated highways, comprising the two branches of the Lower Manhattan Expressway. The idea was to create an automobile and truck through-route connecting the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges on the east with the Holland Tunnel on the west.

That plan faced what was a young historic preservation movement. Architectural critics, stung by the destruction of the original Pennsylvania Station and the threat to other historic structures, challenged the plans because of the threatened loss of a huge quantity of 19th century cast iron structures - a move far ahead of its time as at that time, such structures were not highly valued by the general public. Through the efforts of Jane Jacobs, George Maciunas and other local leaders, the highway project was derailed and abandoned.

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