Tue. 06/01/2010 - Meatpacking & High Line Park

SEE #2-1: Meatpacking District 

Since the Chelsea Market is in Meatpacking District, I looked around the area as well. The area is called like this because once it was a home of over 250 slaughterhouses and meat packing plants in 1900s. But now it's a famous and much fashionable area full of clubs, restaurants, the hippest hotels in NYC, and high-end fashion retail stores, like Jeffry (which was one of the first fashion stores there), Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Mattew Williamson etc. It runs roughly from 14th Street (It sort of extended to 16th Street these days) south to Gansevoort street and from Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The neighborhood also got more fame thanks to Sex and the City. 

I first came to know the area, when I was doing internship at a small .com company. The office was not exactly in the area, but was around 23rd street and 10th Avenue in one of those warehouse-converted to-offices or residential. My boss was a young and hip guy from San Fransisco and he used to walk around me all the way down to the area just to get lunch. (He was just lonely working all by himself in almost 2000sqt office, so I think that was why he took his intern to lunch and even bought the lunch for her).

Also, when I was spending my parents' money, I often shopped at Jeffry, and at that time, it was the only store there.

And...this is a little embarrassing, but at the same time, "I was young, so I could do that" thing...anyway, I was a member of a small group of amateur film makers, and we used to go to the area when again, there was nothing but the smell of meat, to film at 2am in the morning.

I also found a diner where Sookyung and I once ate. 


BTW, I recommend walk around there with much attention. Broken bottles from the night life are everywhere between the cobble stones, and I got injured by one of them. 

{14th Street}

{Gansevoort Street Sign}

 

{Son Cubano}

I want to come here once and have lunch or dinner. I really like the colors. The blue drapery looks so breezy with white and natural umbrella. The sign is made of mosaic tiles and they are sparkling as well. 
The inside is more grandeur with rows of chandeliers. 

{Mattew Williamson}

Even though I can't never wear his print and color filled clothes, I still like his design.

{Alexander McQueen}

I could only afford his MCQ line, but I just loved his design. It is just too shame that we can't never have something he himself designs any more. It's like Hemut Lang is not the same Helmut Lang anymore when he doesn't design the line. (But I think Jil Sander is sort of exception. I still like the line even without her. Yes, I liked it much better when she did)

{Jeffry}

{The Gansevoort Hotel}

{The Standard Hotel}

{The Standard Grille}

{Spice Market}

Spice Market is one of the many restaurants by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. It offers Asian street food inspired dishes. I once had dinner there with Sun, Cindy and Hannah about 4 years ago. And I remember the food was good.

I also tried Vong and Mercher Kitchen among Jean-Georges's countless other restaurants, but I don't particularly remember I was wowed by their food.

I read he recently renewed the menus for ABC Kitchen, located by ABC Carpet. I may try it this Friday with Sun and Katrina if they are okay to go there. I remember the ABC kitchen was beautiful place decorated by all those chandeliers from ABC Carpet, but I am not sure whether it's still the same one?

{Pastis}

{R&L Restaurant}

I think I had brunch with Sookyung about 7-8 years ago here. It has several life-size portraits, and I would love to find out about the artist who did...there are unexpected chandeliers. 

{DeBragga, The Butcher}

There still are about 35 meat packing companies remained in the area.

Unfortunately, I forgot the name of gallery and didn't even catch the artist's name. 
But I think the same artist did this wall as well...

{High Line Park}

SEE #2-2: High Line Park 

High Line Park is a new attraction in the city. It opened last year (2009) April and right now it is only completed from Gansevoort Street north to 20th Street. When it's finished it will be up to 30th Street. The park is built on the former elevated freight railroad. 

{In the elevator of 14th Street Entrance}

{Remaining Railroad}

{View to West Side}

 You can actually see the inside of these houses, and they are so well decorated, all of them.

{Views to Pier 54 and Hoboken across the Hudson River}

{Views to East Side}

{Uncompleted Section from 20th Street to 30th Street}

{Viewing Station by Richard Galpin}

{The River That Flows Both Ways by Spencer Finch}

This was pretty amazing installation. It is consisted of 700 glass panels and each panel represents the single color pixel of Hudson River by each minute. Finch took one photograph of the river every minute for total of 700 minutes in a single day and took one pixel from each photograph and overlayed it onto the glass panels and arranged them chronologically. I don't think my picture captured the differences in color pigments of each panel that well...