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{{Short description|New York City microneighborhood and Internet art scene}}
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{{Use American English|date=May 2026}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2026}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name              = Dimes Square
| type              = [[wikt:microneighborhood|Microneighborhood]]
| coordinates       = {{Coord|40|42|53.9|N|73|59|29.6|W|display=inline,title}}
| mapframe          = yes
| pushpin_map       = Manhattan#New York City
| pushpin_caption   = Location in Manhattan##Location in New York City
| subdivision_type  = Country
| subdivision_name  = {{Flagu|United States}}
| subdivision_type1 = State
| subdivision_name1 = {{Flag|New York}}
| subdivision_type2 = City
| subdivision_name2 = [[New York City]]
| subdivision_type3 = Borough
| subdivision_name3 = [[Manhattan]]
| subdivision_type4 = Community district
| subdivision_name4 = [[Manhattan Community Board 3]]
| etymology         = [[Dimes (restaurant)|Dimes]] restaurant
| postal_code_type  = ZIP codes
| postal_code       = 10002<br/>10013
| area_code_type    = Area codes
| area_code         = [[Area codes 212, 646, and 332|212, 332 and 646]]<br/>[[Area code 917|917]]
| time_zone         = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset        = −05:00
| time_zone_DST     = [[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]]
| utc_offset_DST    = −04:00
}}
[[File:Dimes NYC.jpg|thumb|The restaurant [[Dimes (restaurant)|Dimes]], the neighborhood's namesake]]

'''Dimes Square''' is a [[Neighborhoods in New York City|neighborhood of New York City]] consisting of five square blocks located in the [[Chinatown, Manhattan|Chinatown]] and [[Lower East Side]] neighborhoods of [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=McDermott |first=John |date=July 6, 2025 |title=Inside the 'Anti-Woke' Literary Scene Growing in L.A. |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/anti-woke-literary-scene-la-1235376357/ |access-date=February 9, 2026 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Taylor |first=Erin |date=August 16, 2022 |title=The Next Dimes Square Is Just Around the Corner |url=https://observer.com/2022/08/the-next-dimes-square-is-just-around-the-corner/ |access-date=February 9, 2026 |website=Observer |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 20, 2023 |title=Dimes Square Offline: My Experience with www.RachelOrmont.com |first=Natasha |last=Piner |url=https://www.filmmattersmagazine.com/2023/04/20/dimes-square-offline-my-experience-with-www-rachelormont-com-by-natasha-piner/ |access-date=February 9, 2026 |magazine=Film Matters |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dai |first1=Serena |title=Do You Need to Care About Dimes Square? Probably Not |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/dimes-square-restaurants-nyc |access-date=September 1, 2022 |work=[[Bon Appétit]]|date=August 10, 2022}}</ref> 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 (Manhattan)|Canal Street]] between [[Allen Street]] and [[Essex Street]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Buchanan |first1=Larry |last2=Katz |first2=Josh |last3=Taylor |first3=Rumsey |last4=Washington |first4=Eve |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/upshot/extremely-detailed-nyc-neighborhood-map.html |title=An Extremely Detailed Map of New York City Neighborhoods |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 29, 2023 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The neighborhood's name, a play on "[[Times Square]]", refers to [[Dimes (restaurant)|Dimes]], a restaurant located at the intersection of Canal Street and [[Division Street (Manhattan)|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".<ref>{{cite news|last=Meltzer|first=Marisa|author-link=Marisa Meltzer|title=Dimes Square Gets the Hotel It Deserves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/25/style/dimes-square-nine-orchard-hotel.html |access-date=September 1, 2022 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 25, 2022}}</ref> The term ''Dimes Square'' became a [[metonym]] for a number of associated [[reactionary]] aesthetic movements centered in the area.<ref name="Yost">{{Cite news|last=Yost |first=Julia |title=New York's Hottest Club Is the Catholic Church |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 9, 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/09/opinion/nyc-catholicism-dimes-square-religion.html}}</ref> It was originally popularized by [[Dasha Nekrasova]] and [[Anna Khachiyan]] of the podcast ''[[Red Scare (podcast)|Red Scare]]'' who stemmed from the [[dirtbag left]] movement.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Bevilacqua|first=Leonardo|date=June 24, 2024|title=Rebels with a religious cause: Meet New York's avant-garde conservatives|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2024/0624/New-York-conservative-avant-garde-counterculture-religion|access-date=May 8, 2026|work=[[Christian Science Monitor]]|issn=0882-7729}}</ref>
== History ==
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."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Goldfield |first1=Hannah |date=September 9, 2022 |title=Dimes Square, Post-Shark-Jump |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/19/dimes-square-post-shark-jump |access-date=September 26, 2024 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> [[Ben Smith (journalist)|Ben Smith]] cited the neighborhood's emergence as a [[Stay-at-home order|lockdown]]-flouting cultural hub during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] in a 2021 ''New York Times'' piece.<ref name="smith">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/business/media/the-drunken-canal-media-nyc.html|title=They Had a Fun Pandemic. You Can Read About It in Print|first=Ben|last=Smith|author-link=Ben Smith (journalist)|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 7, 2021}}</ref> As COVID-19 restrictions receded, the associated transgressive art movement digitized and became increasingly prominent in online culture.{{Citation needed|date=October 2026}}

In 2024, ''[[Dazed]]'' magazine referred to Dimes Square as a meme-able micro-neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Günseli |last=Yalcinkaya |date=October 4, 2022 |title=Memes, minions and meta-irony: The rise of post-internet fashion |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/56877/1/memes-minions-and-meta-irony-the-rise-of-post-internet-fashion-praying-ogbff |access-date=February 12, 2026 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref> The American [[pop rock]] band [[Bleachers (band)|Bleachers]] referenced Dimes Square in their 2024 song "[[Jesus Is Dead]]".<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Shaad |last=D'Souza |date=September 29, 2023 |title=Jack Antonoff: 'I've never made anything hoping everyone would like...' |url=https://theface.com/music/jack-antonoff-interview-taylor-swift-bleachers-lana-del-rey-dirty-hit |magazine=[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]]}}</ref>

Following the June 2026 seizure of KiKi's, a Dimes Square restaurant, for failure to pay taxes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanli|first=Lara |last2=Church | first2=Samuel A. |date=June 17, 2026 |title=NYC Greek Eatery Kiki's Seized for Failure to Pay $1 Million Tax |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-17/kiki-s-nyc-restaurant-seized-after-failing-to-pay-1-million-tax |work=Bloomberg News}}</ref> neighborhood regulars began debating whether the Dimes Square scene was ending.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 18, 2026 |title=Kiki's Is Seized, Long Live Kiki's |url=https://hellgatenyc.com/kikis-is-seized-long-live-kikis/ |access-date=June 19, 2026 |website=Hell Gate |language=en}}</ref>

== Art scene ==
In 2022, Julia Yost argued in a ''The New York Times'' op-ed that the neighborhood and its associated podcasters such as [[Dasha Nekrasova]] of ''Red Scare'' were the center of a [[post-ironic]] revival of [[traditionalist Catholicism]].<ref name="Yost" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davenport |first=Emily |date=July 26, 2024 |title=NYC's 'One Man Army' Film Series Makes Waves |url=https://www.amny.com/entertainment/things-to-do/short-films-new-york-city-one-man-army/ |website=[[amNewYork]]}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /> According to Nick Dove in [[Vice Media|''Vice'']], scene participants "ranged from anti-identitarian leftism to outright fascism, a motley crew of outside dissenters to then-ascendant hyper-liberalism".<ref name="Dove1">{{Cite web |last=Dove |first=Nick |date=2026-05-08 |title=The Last Days of Dimes Square (For Real This Time) |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-last-days-of-dimes-square-for-real-this-time/ |access-date=2026-10-25 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}</ref>

Media associated with the area include the podcast ''[[Red Scare (podcast)|Red Scare]]'', pirate radio station [[Montez Press Radio]], and defunct print newspaper ''[[The Drunken Canal]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Will |date=May 24, 2022 |title=Escape from Dimes Square |url=https://thebaffler.com/latest/escape-from-dimes-square-harrison |access-date=February 8, 2025 |website=The Baffler |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="smith" /> An online Dimes zine named ''[[Byline (magazine)|Byline]]'' was established in 2023 by Gutes Guterman and Megan O'Sullivan.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schacter |first=Cara |date=June 8, 2023 |title=They're Here to Save Indie Media |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/style/the-drunken-canal-byline-media.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608180332/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/style/the-drunken-canal-byline-media.html |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> In 2023, the ''[[NME]]'' cited several musicians associated with Dimes Square as "reinvigorating NYC's music scene", including [[The Dare (musician)|The Dare]], [[The Hellp]], [[Been Stellar]], [[Frost Children]], [[Hello Mary]], [[Model/Actriz]], and [[Strange Ranger]].<ref name=":1" />

Operating between 2022 and 2025, Sovereign House was a cultural events venue associated with the scene, owned by [[Financial technology|fintech]] co-founder Nick Allen.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Boguslaw1">{{Cite web |last=Boguslaw |first=Daniel |date=January 24, 2025 |title=At NYC's MAGA Clubhouse, Libertarians Are Left in the Cold |url=https://prospect.org/2025/01/24/2025-01-24-nyc-maga-clubhouse-libertarians-left-in-the-cold/ |website=[[The American Prospect]]}}</ref><ref name="Taylor1">{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Magdalene |date=November 6, 2024 |title=Crushing White Claws With MAGA Hipsters on Election Night in Dimes Square |url=https://www.gq.com/story/election-night-in-dimes-square |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241106210648/https://www.gq.com/story/election-night-in-dimes-square |archive-date=November 6, 2024 |access-date=May 21, 2025 |website=[[GQ]] |language=en-US }}</ref><ref name="Green1">{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Emma |date=2025-12-16 |title=The Party Politics of Sovereign House |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/the-party-politics-of-sovereign-house |access-date=2026-10-25 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> In 2024, Magdalene Taylor described it in ''[[GQ]]'' as the "last bastion" of Dimes Square,<ref name="Taylor1" /> and ''[[City Journal]]'' described it in 2025 as "New York's premier right-wing gathering spot".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Soropoulos |first=Kerry |date=May 2, 2025 |title=Tech Founders Bet on New York |url=https://www.city-journal.org/article/innovation-new-york-city-deep-tech-week-entrepreneurs-vc-firms |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=[[City Journal]]}}</ref> According to ''[[The New Yorker]]'', its speakers were "heterodox, and sometimes controversial".<ref name="Green1" /> It hosted events including an [[Elena Velez]] presentation,<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kennedy |first1=Joan |last2=Ap |first2=Tiffany |title=Elena Velez Brings Dimes Square, and Its Controversial Politics, to Fashion Week |url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/fashion-week/elena-velez-brings-dimes-square-and-its-controversial-politics-to-fashion-week/ |website=[[The Business of Fashion]] |access-date=February 23, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212060323/https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/fashion-week/elena-velez-brings-dimes-square-and-its-controversial-politics-to-fashion-week/ |archive-date=February 12, 2024 |language=en |date=February 12, 2024 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> a play by [[Matthew Gasda]],<ref name="Green1" /> a [[Department of Government Efficiency|DOGE]] appreciation party,<ref name="Green1" /> and events for publications such as ''[[The Point (magazine)|The Point]]'' and ''[[Heavy Traffic (magazine)|Heavy Traffic]].''<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |last=Kailath |first=Ryan |date=January 17, 2025 |title=Some young NYC conservatives say Trump resurgence makes it easier to speak their minds |url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/some-young-nyc-conservatives-say-trump-resurgence-makes-it-easier-to-speak-their-minds |website=[[Gothamist]]}}</ref> Guest speakers included [[Benjamin R. Teitelbaum]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pogue |first=James |date=October 9, 2024 |title=Steve Bannon Is Out of Jail, and He Has a Plan for Trump's Next Term |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/steve-bannon-nato-world-order |website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref> [[Norman Finkelstein]],<ref name="Green1" /> and far-right figures such as [[Curtis Yarvin]],<ref name="Green1" /> [[Raw Egg Nationalist]],<ref name="Boguslaw1" /> and [[Steve Sailer]], a proponent of [[scientific racism]].<ref name=":3" /> Sovereign House closed after its lease expired in Spring 2025.<ref name="Green1" />

Matthew Gasda's 2026 play ''The Last Days of Downtown'' was described in ''Vice'' as a "[[Autopsy|post-mortem]]" for the Dimes Square scene.<ref name="Dove1" /> According to [[Ross Barkan]], [[Zohran Mamdani]]'s [[2025 New York City mayoral election|election as Mayor of New York City in 2025]] marked a change in political mood contributing to the decline of Dimes Square.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barkan |first=Ross |date=2025-11-26 |title=Did Zohran Kill Dimes Square? |url=https://rosselliotbarkan.com/p/did-zohran-kill-dimes-square |access-date=2026-10-25 |website=rosselliotbarkan.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Notable people ==
* [[Betsey Brown (filmmaker)|Betsey Brown]], actress and director<ref name=":0" /> 
* [[Blake Ortiz-Goldberg|Blaketheman1000]], pop/indie artist and producer<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Buford |first=Jayson |date=November 3, 2022 |title=Is 'Dimes Square Rapper' Blaketheman1000 Actually Sort of Good? |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dimes-square-rapper-blaketheman1000-profile-1234623584/ |access-date=March 22, 2026 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Madeline Cash]], author and co-founder of ''Forever Magazine''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boyle |first=J. Arthur |date=July 24, 2023 |title=The Right-Wing Avant-Garde in American Fiction |url=https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/the-right-wing-avant-garde-in-american-fiction |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251010183953/https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/the-right-wing-avant-garde-in-american-fiction |archive-date=October 10, 2025 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=Verso |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Jordan Castro]], writer and editor<ref name=":3" />
* [[The Dare (musician)|The Dare]], singer, DJ, and music producer<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=May 15, 2023 |title=Dimes Square: meet the new artists reinvigorating NYC's music scene |url=https://www.nme.com/features/music-features/dimes-square-new-artists-new-york-city-bands-2023-radar-3443102 |access-date=December 14, 2024 |website=[[NME]]}}</ref>
* [[Anna Khachiyan]], cultural critic, writer, and co-host of the ''[[Red Scare (podcast)|Red Scare]]'' podcast<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=August 11, 2022 |title=How Dimes Square Became the New York City Neighborhood We Love to Hate|author=Helen Holmes|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-dimes-square-became-the-new-york-neighborhood-we-love-to-hate/ |access-date=December 14, 2024 |website=[[The Daily Beast]]}}</ref>
* [[Honor Levy]], author<ref>{{cite web |last=Colyar |first=Brock |url=https://www.thecut.com/article/honor-levy-my-first-book-dimes-square-interview.html |title=Her First Book; Six hours in Dimes Square with the 26-year-old author and niche icon Honor Levy. |work=[[The Cut (publication)|The Cut]] |date=May 3, 2024 |access-date=February 3, 2026 |quote=Levy was one of the niche icons of Dimes Square, the scene that bloomed on the little patch of the Lower East Side where we are currently drinking Diet Cokes.}}</ref>
* [[Dasha Nekrasova]], actress, filmmaker, and co-host of the ''[[Red Scare (podcast)|Red Scare]]'' podcast<ref name="Yost" />
* [[Peter Vack]], actor, writer, and filmmaker<ref>{{Cite web |author=Piner |first=Natasha |date=April 20, 2023 |title=Dimes Square Offline: My Experience with www.RachelOrmont.com |url=https://www.filmmattersmagazine.com/2023/04/20/dimes-square-offline-my-experience-with-www-rachelormont-com-by-natasha-piner/ |access-date=December 14, 2024 |website=Film Matters Magazine }}</ref>
* [[Sean Price Williams]], cinematographer and film director<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Nayman |first1=Adam |title=The Girl and Her Trust: Sean Price Williams on "The Sweet East" |url=https://cinema-scope.com/spotlight/the-girl-and-her-trust-sean-price-williams-on-the-sweet-east/ |magazine=[[Cinema Scope]] |access-date=February 23, 2026 |date=June 20, 2023}}</ref>
* [[Elena Velez]], fashion designer<ref>{{cite news |last=Tashjian |first=Rachel |date=February 12, 2024 |title=Fashion's problematic fave is Elena Velez |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/fashion/2024/02/12/fashions-problematic-fave-is-elena-velez/ |agency=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Frogtwitter]]
* [[Dirtbag left]]
* [[Post-Internet]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Chinatown, Manhattan}}
{{Lower East Side}}
{{Manhattan|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Catholicism in New York City]]
[[Category:Chinatown, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Lower East Side]]
[[Category:Traditionalist Catholicism in the United States]]
[[Category:2020s in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Neighborhoods in Manhattan]]