Can Hudson Square Reinvent Itself as New York Citys Next Hot Neighborhood?

New York City is full of distinct neighborhoods, many competing for charm, hipness, quality of life and a good work-life balance.As a newcomer, and one that many city dwellers still haven’t heard of, Hudson Square is trying to create an identity separate from its culturally vibrant neighbors — SoHo to the east, the West Village to the north, TriBeCa to the south — that have long had curb appeal for businesses and new residents alike.Bordered by some of the city’s most valued public spaces to the west, the Hudson River and Hudson River Park, the neighborhood was once a gritty, industrial area that had been the epicenter of the printing industry in the early 1900s.

Its past means that Hudson Square is architecturally different from many other parts of Manhattan, which are brimming with gleaming skyscrapers.Instead, it is dotted with scores of so-called groundscrapers — large, horizontal buildings with relatively few stories, many spanning entire blocks — that were once used for printing press manufacturing.Hudson Square was once home to the headquarters of Bowne & Company, a letterpress firm and the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and Freedom’s Journal, the first African American-owned and -operated U.S.

newspaper, which began printing in the neighborhood in 1827.That industrial history, along with the traffic and busyness from the nearby Holland Tunnel and railway terminals, meant the neighborhood wasn’t considered a pleasant place to live, despite its proximity to public transit, something immensely important to New Yorkers.But now developers and real estate companies are trying to lure residents with a plan that includes creating more green spaces and making the area more pedestrian-friendly.And its transformation has persuaded two American companies — Google and Disney — to make the neighborhood the home of their New York headquarters....