West 44th St, Clinton / Hells Kitchen

44th starts off in Hell's Kitchen with a fire station at 12th Avenue. It's one of the newer stations in the city. 10 firefighters from this station died in the September 11th attacks which is a really high number especially considering its distance from Ground Zero. The block at 11th has a junior high and some apartments . . . in other words, it's pretty boring. The block at 10th, however, is where the street takes a pretty significant turn. It used to be the Astor's farmland and there were a number of townhouses built on the block in the mid-19th century, many of which still stand. They're gorgeous and such a welcome departure from the high rises that dominate this part of town. There's also quite a lot of life around here because of the theatre community. It's a really lovely block.
The block starts off with the Actor's Studio at 10th. The Actor's Studio is one of the more esteemed schools in the country. It counts Marlon Brando, James Dean and Robert DeNiro as alumni. It was established as the go to school for Method Acting and has been made famous by James Lipton's show Inside the Actor's Studio wherein he interviews celebrities about their craft. The townhouse next door to the studio is said to be haunted. And, the building next door to the haunted house is a theatre company known for developing new and experimental playwrights. There are a couple of apartment buildings mixed in with the theatres and townhouses; and, there are also a couple of eateries like Burritoville which makes the block vibrant and fun to walk down.
The next block over has less on the townhouse front but a couple of little bars, a film center and a Jazz lounge. It's not as pretty as the block at 9th, but it's still got some of the energy that trickles over so it's not so bad considering its proximity to midtown / Times Square.