To the west of Times Square lies Hell's Kitchen , an area centered on the engaging slash of restaurants, bars and ethnic delis of Ninth Avenue . Extending down to the Garment District and up to the low 50s, this was once one of New York's most violent and lurid neighborhoods, made up of soap and glue factories, slaughterhouses and the like. Gangs roamed the streets, and though their rule ended in 1910 after a major police counteroffensive, the area remained a bit dangerous until fairly recently, when musicians and Broadway types began moving in.

Head to it from Eighth Avenue (which now houses the porn businesses expelled from the square) down 46th Street - the so-called Restaurant Row that is the area's preferred haunt for pre- and post-theater dining. Here you can begin to detect a more pastoral feel, which only increases on many of the side streets around Ninth and Tenth avenues.

Hell's Kitchen

• Hell's Kitchen

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