Flatiron District

The Flatiron District is a small district in the borough of Manhattan, which the Flatiron Building owes its name, which is located at the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street.

Location and extent

The Flatiron District is bounded on the south by 20th Street, Union Square and Greenwich Village to the west by the Sixth Avenue and Chelsea, on the north by NoMad and 25th Street, in the north- east by Rose Hill and to the east by Lexington Avenue / Irving Place, Gramercy Park and the Gramercy.

The Broadway crosses the Flatiron District, Madison Avenue begins at 23rd Street and runs in a northerly direction. At the northern end of the district is Madison Square Park, which was completely renovated in 2001.

Within the Flatiron District there are two important national monuments: on the one hand, the Ladies' Mile Historic District and the birthplace of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.

History and naming

Its current name was given to the Flatiron District until 1985, when the district increasingly assumed the character of a residential area and more and more restaurants settled in this area. Also brokers wanted a more attractive name for this corner of Manhattan, to convey the emerging flats better.

Prior to this quarter was marked by trade. So it was the one known as " Photo District " because here had their studios because of the low rents many photographers and accordingly also related businesses found here. Another part of the area was called " Toy District " because of the toy manufacturer in the Toy Center buildings around 23rd Street and Broadway, as well as for the Toy Fair, held here since 1903 (except 1945).

After the turn of the millennium, many publishers have their offices moved to this neighborhood - as well as advertising agencies and numerous computer and Internet start -up companies, making it the area is now considered part of the so-called " Silicon Alley " or "Multimedia Gulch " - in addition to TriBeCa and SoHo.

Building

Important buildings include the Flatiron Building, one of the oldest skyscrapers in New York. In the immediate vicinity of the Met Life Tower, built in 1909 and until the completion of the Woolworth Building in 1913, the tallest building in the world was located. At the Madison Avenue between the 26h Street and 27th Street, designed by Cass Gilbert and built in 1928, New York Life Building - with a square tower on the top of which a prominent, gold-plated pyramid is located.