Theory of Dakotativity in Hell's Kitchen

This is yet another head shaking, unbelievable South Dakota in the City moment. After I purchased my ticket for The Rise of Dorothy Hale on 46th Street (Hell's Kitchen area) I had an hour to burn before showtime. I found a lovely little cafe on 10th Avenue that specializes in biscotti. I bought a sampling platter and a pot of coffee to enjoy while I read the NY Times.

As I walking back to the theatre, I happened glance across the street and saw my dear friend Eric Johnson from Rapid City putting his suitcase into the back of an airport van. I yelled, "Oh my gosh...can you believe it?" Eric was as shocked as I. We exchanged kisses and hugs and off he went.

I had randomly called Eric last Saturday when I met Jenny Fellner because he was one of the people that we knew in common. I assumed he was in Rapid. However, he told me that he had just left nyc as he was directing a show in Cincinnati; however, it would be back in Wednesday ,and we would try to connect. They planned meeting didn't happen, but a random act of Dakotivity did. The next time we will see each other will be on a SD State One Act Festival panel in February.

After The Screwtape Letters, I heard a young man ask his father, "Why is this are called Hell's Kitchen." I wondered the same thing. According to Wikipedia:

Several different explanations exist for the original name of the the area between 34th Street and 57th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. An early use of the phrase appears in a comment Davy Crockett made about another notorious Irish slum in Manhattan. According to the Irish Cultural Society of the Garden City Area:

When, in 1835, Davy Crockett said, "In my part of the country, when you meet an Irishman, you find a first-rate gentleman; but these are worse than savages; they are too mean to swab hell's kitchen," he was referring to the Five Points.

According to an article by Kirkley Greenwell, published online by the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association:

No one can pin down the exact origin of the label, but some refer to a tenement on 54th as the first "Hell's Kitchen." Another explanation points to an infamous building at 39th as the true original. A gang and a local dive took the name as well.... a similar slum also existed in London and was known as Hell's Kitchen. Whatever the origin of the name, it fit.