Tag Archives: Meatpacking District

The Villager Newspaper: Growing Opposition To Massive Gansevoort Development

Gansevoort Towers, GVSHP, , , ,

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There is growing opposition from preservationists and neighbors to the proposed development of Gansevoort Street South .  Widespread concern is  turning to action among community members who have formed  savegansevoort.org and started an online petition.  And other organizations are  now getting involved:

This new proposal is really a bridge too far,” said Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation…“It would seem to almost obviate the notion of this being in a historic district at all.

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An Excellent History of the Creation of the Gansevoort Market Historic District

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Ever wonder how the Gansevoort Market Historic District (better known as the Meat Market) came to be created?   The Villager newspaper has the story:

How the district’s landmarking came about was an improbable tale, about as hard to predict as the incredible transformation the neighborhood has undergone.  Defying the odds, the Gansevoort Market Historic District was designated in 2003… 
Though it may be hard to believe now, in the summer of 2000 the Meatpacking District was still very much a backwater. The neighborhood was pretty empty during most daylight hours. But when the sun went down, the clubs opened (of both the sex and dance variety), transgendered prostitutes worked the streets, and the meatpacking businesses opened their doors around 4 a.m. and started loading and unloading their products until around noon, when the cycle started all over again. The cobblestoned streets dripped with animal blood (and some other unsavory liquids), but the neighborhood had achieved a kind of equilibrium in which not much changed, and all parts seemed to coexist in relative harmony.

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