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What’s In A Name For New York’s Garment Center?
By admins | December 1, 2008
Over the years our neighborhood has held a variety of names: Garment District, Fashion District, Fashion Business District, Garment Center, and Fashion Center. Well, we may soon be adding another to the list, Garment Center Historic District. The New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recently recommended the addition of our neighborhood to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. During an average hectic business day, rushing from subway to office to lunch etc. we may overlook the historical significance and landmarks of the garment center but it’s important to remember they’re here.
New York’s Garment Center began small by producing cheap clothes for slaves working on southern farming plantations. By the mid 1800’s, along with the invention of the sewing machine, came the invention of ready-made clothing. At the same time, European immigrants migrated to America with apparel business experience and skills in garment production. Our rich immigrant history helped turn garment construction into the industrialized profession that the fashion business is today. In 1911 over a hundred young women working in sweatshop conditions died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. As a result of this, one of New York’s largest and oldest Unions was formed, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. By 1930, Jewish and Italian gangsters, along with the United Hebrew Trades Union, began to overtake the neighborhood. In 1957 the Gambino crime family took control of the garment district and ravaged it until the early 1990’s. Between the 60 million dollars a year paid to the mob and New York’s inflated taxes, the garment industry began shrinking and jobs fled from the city.
In recent years the garment center has been working hard towards making a comeback. We are still the fashion capital of the US with over 14 billion dollars in sales and tens of thousands of related jobs. Our tiny neighborhood is responsible for a third of all American manufactured clothing and home to some of the world’s top fashion talent. With the Fashion Center Business Improvement District Corporation, our zoning laws and local businesses are now being protected. With such a rich history we can only hope to be included in the Registers of Historic Places, in doing so, it will help revitalizing our structures, as well as, making owners eligible for state grants and federal tax credits. For more information on the garment center click here.
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Topics: History, economy, fashion, fashion industry, garment center, new york | 4 Comments » 
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December 2nd, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Good shout out to your BID, it’s great to hear they’re helping to preserve the fashion district.
And a wonderful post, the fashion district is an area rich in history that needs to be preserved so it can help keep the american garment industry flourishing.
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
What a fascinating article, complete with the incredible history of the area. The Triangle Fire, a subject of many books, both fiction and non-fiction, remains a symbol of the role that the garment industry has played in America’s past and will continue to do in the future.
December 3rd, 2008 at 5:02 am
Lovely little learning curve for me in this post. Thanks.:)
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Great article on the history of the fashion/garment district. The history of the district is as interesting as its products. It definitely should be declared a historic district.