Garment District

The Garment District, better known to New Yorkers as the Fashion District or simply the Herald Square area, is located right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Midtown.

The area is always packed because it is the central location for shopping and located near Times Square and the epicenter of the world's foot traffic. The stores in the area vary from largely affordable boutiques and chains to many much more upscale locations as well. The area is known as the capital of the fashion world and just about every major designer owns space in the neighborhood. There are also a lot of fashion wholesalers selling cheaper options as well as supplies.

This is largely a commercial area without much residential space. The space that is available is costly and may only be worth it to someone who works in the area. Though the area is very accessible by most trains, this is because everyone is coming here. The streets are almost always packed, maybe even worse on the weekends. The traffic is at a standstill, both car and foot traffic, and there is someone trying to sell you something everywhere as vendors and kiosks are lined up along the same streets as the stores and boutiques.

Ultimately, this is a place to come and spend some money and take part in the tourist trap aspect of it and then move on to the rest of your day.

Known as the fashion and manufacturing center of the city (and of the United States, for that matter) the garment district features some behemoth institutions as well: The Javits Convention Center, Penn Station, Madison Square Garden, Port Authority, the New York Public Library, and the central NYC Post Office, which until only recently used to be open 24/7. If you're alive and living in the city, chances are you've had reason to come to one of these institutions or other, and have been to the Garment District. I can't say it's my favorite place to hang out. While sitting on the front steps of the beautiful Beaux-Arts buildings of the post office and of the public library can be pleasant, the experience is seriously marred by the noise and smells of traffic on the streets. Weird fact: the AMC Empire Theater, one of those huge 25-screen multiplex theaters, is the largest structure in NYC to have been physically moved (in 1998). It was rolled 170 feet in a single day, after months of preparation. I do love Bryant Park, especially the always fun and always rowdy experience of watching free movies in the park in summer times, but otherwise this area gets a big thumbs down from me for its impersonal scale, noise, and unsavory characters hanging out near the entrance to Penn Station.

In spite of loud protests from the anti fur lobby and the growing popularity of faux fur many New Yorkers still prefer to use coats fashioned out of animal fur to ward off the biting chill of the bitter New York City winters. The best place to buy these warmth inducing minks, shearlings, silver foxes and more is along a nondescript stretch of W29th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues round the corner from the transport hub of Penn Station.
This section of W29th is known as the fur district of New York City as it continues to host outlets and factory stores of several well known furriers like Konstanine Leathers, the Fur depot, Rafael Shearlings, Peter Duffy Furs and Ritz Furs who offer a wide variety of furs for sale at prices which are generally much lower than those charged by department stores and designer fur salons. Moreover these stores also custom create fur coats and also provide other invaluable services like cleaning, repairing and storing of fur coats as furs are generally quite expensive and do require a certain amount of care if they are to last you a lifetime. The Fur district is essentially a commercial district which is populated with warehouses and factory stores and doesnt have much appeal as a residential neighborhood.

This small district is barely one square mile, but has big attractions for all to enjoy. Anchored in by the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Penn Station, and the General Post Office, you feel very secure and surrounded.

The community remains to be the fashion capital of the world for many designers, couture houses and showrooms. The area is not what it used to be since the flood of the sweatshops spewing out clothes has now infiltrated many areas of Chinatown, rather than being primarily based in the Garment District.

Nearby restaurants and bars to check out, in Garment District and neighboring districts, are the Falai Restaurant and Radegast (ultra chic American Bohemian beer hall). The lobby of the Empire State Building is also worth a peek. The gorgeous art deco and marble bring “old-school” back to life. Ride up the elevator to the 86th floor observatory and gaze at the lights of the Chrysler Building. This experience can be very romantic at night, as the last elevator leaves at 11:15 PM. You can also step inside the NY Skyride, a huge flight simulator that takes you and about 50 guests on a trip around NYC.

When I was a young newly inducted New Yorker, one of my roommates was a budding young assistant designer who worked in this neighborhood, and she said she often saw needles littering the sidewalks here. Not that the street isn’t safe – it isn’t the South Bronx or anything, but it’s not exactly the Upper East Side either.
This city is the one and only fashion capitol of the United States, and this neighborhood is where the art form is churned out. Of the clothing manufactured in the U.S., a huge percentage of it comes out of this neighborhood. However, it’s not so popular as it once was to manufacture clothes in the U.S. (as labor is cheaper elsewhere), and many of these factories are being converted into apartments. (And if I had my pick of New York apartments, I’d most likely go for the converted factory space – the size of these apartments usually exceed the New York standard shoebox apartments.)