Dimes Square
New York City microneighborhood and Internet art scene
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dimes Square is a microneighborhood of New York City and art scene located between the Chinatown and Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan.[1][2][3][4] The exact perimeter and nature of the neighborhood is debated, though survey data from The New York Times lists it as roughly the five blocks on either side of Canal Street between Allen Street and Essex Street.[5]
Dimes Square | |
|---|---|
| Etymology: Dimes restaurant | |
 Interactive map of Dimes Square | |
 Dimes Square Location in Manhattan  Dimes Square Location in New York City | |
| Coordinates: 40°42′53.9″N 73°59′29.6″W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  New York |
| City | New York City |
| Borough | Manhattan |
| Community district | Manhattan Community Board 3 |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| ZIP codes | 10002 10013 |
| Area codes | 212, 332 and 646 917 |
Etymology
The neighborhood's name, a play on "Times Square", refers to Dimes, a restaurant located at the intersection of Canal Street and Division Street on the Lower East Side. According to Marisa Meltzer of The New York Times, the nickname has transitioned from a term used "jokingly" to one used "semi-seriously".[6]
The term Dimes Square has become a metonym for a number of associated reactionary aesthetic movements centered in the area.[7]
History
Ben Smith cited the neighborhood's emergence as a lockdown-flouting cultural hub during the COVID-19 pandemic in a 2021 New York Times piece.[8] As the COVID-19 restrictions receded and the neighborhood became more mainstream, the associated transgressive art movement digitized and became increasingly prominent in online culture.[9] Media associated with the area include the podcast Red Scare, pirate radio station Montez Press Radio, and defunct print newspaper The Drunken Canal.[10][8] An online Dimes zine named Byline was established in 2023 by Gutes Guterman and Megan O'Sullivan.[11]
In 2022, Julia Yost, an editor at First Things, a conservative religious journal, argued in an op-ed in The New York Times that the neighborhood and associated podcasters such as Dasha Nekrasova of Red Scare are the center of a post-ironic revival of traditionalist Catholicism.[7][12]
Sovereign House
Sovereign House is a cultural events venue located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City.[13][14] Opened in late 2022, the venue occupies a street-level space on East Broadway, in the area known as Dimes Square. It was founded by Nick Allen as a salon for downtown artists and writers.[15]
Sovereign House's space is used for magazine launch parties, experimental theater, film screenings, and discussions on art and literature.[16][17][18] Sovereign House has hosted cultural events, such as a production of Matthew Gasda's play Zoomers and an Elena Velez Fashion Week presentation linking Dimes Square's cultural politics to the fashion world.[16][19] It has supported magazines and journals through launches and panel events for publications including The Point and Heavy Traffic,[13] and has hosted author talks and lectures by figures such as Benjamin R. Teitelbaum[20] and Norman Finkelstein.[21] It has also hosted figures such as Dasha Nekrasova, as well as recurring meetings of the New York Philosophy Club, events for the New York Comedy Festival.[16]
Art scene
In 2020, two blocks of Canal Street were closed off for an Open Streets permit, resulting in what Hannah Goldfield of The New Yorker described as a "circus", "every night a music festival in the piazza."[22] In 2023, the NME cited several musicians associated with Dimes Square as "reinvigorating NYC's music scene".[23] Artists included the Dare, the Hellp, the Life, Been Stellar, Blaketheman1000, Catcher, Club Eat, Frost Children, Hello Mary, Model/Actriz, Sid Simons, Shallowhalo and Strange Ranger.[23] The American pop rock band Bleachers reference Dimes Square in their 2024 song "Jesus Is Dead".[24]
In 2024, Dazed magazine cited Dimes Square in an article regarding the rise of "post-internet fashion".[25] In 2025, Dazed magazine published an article on Internet cinema.[26] The article included an Instagram story noting that films such as Peter Vack's www.RachelOrmont.com and Angelicism01's Film01 were one of the only pieces of "true internet cinema".[26]
Notable people
- Betsey Brown, actress and director[27]
- Jordan Castro, writer and editor[16]
- The Dare, singer, DJ, and music producer[23]
- Anna Khachiyan, cultural critic, writer, and co-host of the Red Scare podcast[27]
- Honor Levy, author[28]
- Dasha Nekrasova, actress, filmmaker, and co-host of the Red Scare podcast[7]
- Peter Vack, actor, writer, and filmmaker[29]
- Sean Price Williams, cinematographer and film director[30]