NoChe (North of Chelsea)
NoChe (North Of Chelsea) is an infrequently used neighborhood nickname for the Manhattan area between Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea that is also sometimes called Hellsea. “NoChe” is pronounced like the Spanish word “noche” (“night”) and does not imply “No Che” (the Cuban leader Che Guevara, 1928-1967).
“NoChe” appears to date from June 2005.
blogchelsea
June 11, 2005
NoChe
When Dan mentioned a recent contest to name un-named neighborhoods as we walked north of Chelsea, Ulrike immediately nailed our environs: NoChe (North of Chelsea, pronounced ‘NOH-chay’ ). Nobody really knows what to call that ambiguous space north of 23rd and south of 34th on the West side, so a tasty portmanteau like NoChe could not only clarify the situation but could probably single-handedly raise property values a few points.
We often think of Chelsea ending at 23rd St and Clinton beginning at 34th St. Some maps have Chelsea extending to 34th, but the official Manhattan Community District map is ambiguous, making it look like Chelsea meets Clinton around 26th St (which, architecturally speaking, kinda makes sense).
Curbed
Chelsea Blogging All The Rage
Wednesday, June 15, 2005, by Lockhart
Is Chelsea the new Lower East Side? In blog terms, we mean, as we track two new Chelsea-centric blogs. Blog Chelsea offers “everything of interest in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City” (going all ‘Hoodwinked on our ass with this post about a neighborhood termed NoChe) while the anonymously written Hotel Chelsea Blog offers dish about “roaches, obscure writers and artists, and superstars connected with the hotel.”
district belle
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
new york state of mind
(...)
She lives in North Chelsea (I much prefer her acronym of NoChe, though!), so I ended up checking out a new area to me.
New York (NY) Times
March 25, 2007
Under the Rainbow
By DAVID SHAFTEL
(...)
And despite Hell’s Kitchen’s growing appeal to many of the city’s young gay men, an attraction fueled by its strengthening gay identity, many residents predict that the area may never have the gay identity that Chelsea has and that the West Village was once famous for, that it will endure simply as a gay-friendly district, less a scene than simply a neighborhood.
Hellsea? NoChe? Hell’s Kitty?
Historians disagree on the derivation of the name Hell’s Kitchen, which designates the area bounded by 34th and 59th Streets between Eighth Avenue and the Hudson River, and which was largely replaced in the 1960s by the more respectable-sounding Clinton. But not surprisingly in a city that loves to rename its communities, Hell’s Kitchen has been increasingly rebranded, with names spawned in equal measure by real estate agents and gay tastemakers: Mid West, NoChe (North of Chelsea), Hell’s Kitchenette, Hell’s Kitty and, most ubiquitous, Hellsea.
Whatever people call it, the message is unmistakable: Hell’s Kitchen is getting gayer and gayer.
New York Nights
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Nightlife News for October 11th, 2007
Hell’s Kitchen becoming new gay haven? (Dan Allen- OutTraveler.com) While the West Village and Chelsea are considered the foundation of gay life in New York City, changes are taking place. As the NYU glacier moves in from the Village and B&T crowd make more in roads into Chelsea from the Meatpacking District Hell’s Kitchen (or Hellsea, or Clinton or NoChe depending on who you ask) is becoming the new focus point for the LGBT population.