Lived in this hood for over 40 years. My books are in storage at the moment, but one of the, either "Maritime Mile" or "Greenwich Village and How It Got to be That Way" - or something like that - talks about how there was a 13th Avenue on landfill, down near where the marine firehouse is now. I think it shows a cold storage warehouse on the map. And, as a testament to NYC's maritime importance, they actually got RID of that land for many years to accommodate more shipping. If I can dig up the attribution, I will. Thanks for the piece today.
Thank YOU, Rob. I'm loving your pieces and hope they turn into a collection one day - on paper - that we can all buy. The old Meat Market was a special place, but all things must pass, I suppose.
I’m hoping for that too, thanks Paul! I imagine when the meat market moved in people were pining for the days when it was Fort Gansevoort and, in the future, people will be reminiscing about the wonder that was the Restoration Hardware flagship. Maybe.
Yeah, it's funny how that works. People reminisce about Hogs & Heifers, but I remember when their arrival was the canary in the coal mine. We're looking at Yorkville, but who knows? When I'm on my bike, out and about, that part of the Upper East Side feels more like old New York than the West Village. Either way, good luck. I have done a few books of my own. Please feel to reach out if you wanted my experience.
1. Thank you for covering a tiny bit of the city's LGBT+ history. It's always enlightening to hear about how hidden away these places had to be and how misunderstood and maligned AIDS was in political circles. Reagan really fucked us over on that front. It's tragic how unmoored in history a lot of us were without an older generation to anchor us, having been lost to the disease.
2. I need to hear more from that woman in the sights and sounds who was listing all the alcohol someone stole from her. She was really attached to that bottle of Casamigos. Sounded like quite a confrontation!
3. Those topsy-turvy looking buildings in the background of the 5th photo are bonkers. They made me feel a tiny bit seasick.
I recently finished the Gods of New York and it was a really illuminating look at NYC in the 80s, particularly in the city's approach to the AIDS crisis under Mayor Koch. I'm not sure these clubs were that hidden though they were for sure off the beaten path. Their visibility is what put them in the crosshairs of city government. At the same time, activists correctly argued that making everything go even more underground would serve the opposite purpose that closing the clubs was supposed to do.
Yeah, that was some major Casamigos drama!
I spent a while thinking the photo was crooked before remembering those are the towers of the XI building, once described as ""two drunken figures on the verge of keeling over."
I love that the manhole covers are still there as are the pipes that used to circulate the Hudson brine around the neighborhoods.
Brian really captured both sides of the neighborhood pendulum. I wonder if 20 years from now everyone is going to be nostalgic for the days you could buy a Cybertruck and get a scoop of Van Leeuwens from a van.
(Oh, and I left your article for a bit at the mention of “Restoration Hardware”. You referring to it as a high end furniture store made me pause saying “Whaaaaaa’?” and going down a rabbit hole investigating this. Cause when I lived in Houston back between say ‘95 and ‘02, I swear I went to a Restoration Hardware store with a friend and they had literal knobs and hinges, among other kitsch-ier items — not furniture, let alone high end furniture. Well, I left Houston in ‘02, left NYC for Norway in ‘05 and things change, I guess (including the advent of pickleball mania, which I am fixated upon).)
I think RH left the world of knobs and hinges behind once they started sending out their infamous 17lb (no joke) catalog, featuring 3,300 pages of “curated and inspired design.”
Some amazing work! I meant to include an early map of the restaurant they collaborated on which was actually an inverted map of where Market St. intersects with The Embarcadero in San Francisco. They threw some familiar street names on the somewhat similar looking grid ensuring that practically nobody, for a while at least, would be able to find the restaurant.
Somewhere I have matchbooks they did for Florent, and for the China Grill in Midtown. Back when people smoked in restaurants. Weren't those the days...I can't remember, Rob, are you a native New Yorker?
I just saw some of those for sale on eBay. $125! I’m a transplant. I lived in the UWS for a year after college in the 90s and then moved here for good a little over 20 years ago.
I lived on 83 between CPW and Columbus in 1986/7, then Times Square for a couple of years before I returned to Minnesota. $125 for a matchbook! Maybe I'll have to do some excavation...
I continue to enjoy your articles and photos very much. This brings back memories - during the late 60's-early 70's my father was a night watchman for a meat packing business in the area. To my dismay, he appeared to be paid in frozen chicken. I never want to eat another once frozen chicken. Then in the early 80's, my mother was apartment sitting not very far from one of the clubs. My younger sister was visiting the night they heard a fatal fight in the street. Between the despised chicken and the violent evenings, I confess to not developing a fondness for the area. Still I enjoyed your writing and photos.
My mom and I moved to 14th and 9th around 1974. I remember the Dick Tracey painting but I don't recall it ever being a functioning comic book shop. I could be wrong but my dad was a comic writer and I feel like I'd likely remember if it was. Curious if anyone can confirm this. Anyway, here is a fun fact: in the late 80s the pay phone on the southwest side of the street would frequently ring in the evenings. If you answered, you would be offered a sexual encounter of one kind or another.
Thanks for the sleuthing, Rob! Your eyes are better than mine 'cause I can't make out the letters but I'll take your word for it. I guess by the early 80s my interest in comic books had waned and my dad was long out of the neighborhood. Happy holidays and I appreciate your excellent work!
Thank you for another year of time travel, investigation and wonderful photography (as well as all the murders, demolished buildings and tips about other great photographers). Have a great Christmas.
Lovely snow photos, Rob! My spouse, Mark, worked at a restaurant called Fressen in 1999, which was the first restaurant to open in the Meatpacking aside from Florent, (which I still miss!!) The transformation of this neighborhood is still wild to me.
My grandfather George Magee (born in 1882) was a NYC Policeman. He was assigned to the West Village precinct that included the Meatpacking District. My mother recalled that during the Depression he would occasionally come home from work with prime cuts of meat. The story about the suckling pig is pretty funny. He claimed the the meat markets would "give away" expensive cuts of meat that they couldn't sell.
It's very possible. The article says "former detective" and my grandfather did become a detective although I'm not sure when. There is a NYT article about him escorting an extradited criminal back to the UK. It's interesting that this article places him in Chinatown. He was born on Mott Street. I sent all of our family file to my niece who has begun to research the family in more detail. The Oak Street Station was on the LES.
Love this Rob. My mother loved a steak restaurant in this area and took us there every year for years. I always feel nostalgic when I pass by this part of NYC. Thanks so much for your thoughtful, informative posts.
I wonder if that restaurant was Old Homestead which predates Peter Luger by a decade and claims to be the oldest running steakhouse in the country. It’s still open too!
Lived in this hood for over 40 years. My books are in storage at the moment, but one of the, either "Maritime Mile" or "Greenwich Village and How It Got to be That Way" - or something like that - talks about how there was a 13th Avenue on landfill, down near where the marine firehouse is now. I think it shows a cold storage warehouse on the map. And, as a testament to NYC's maritime importance, they actually got RID of that land for many years to accommodate more shipping. If I can dig up the attribution, I will. Thanks for the piece today.
I just looked into that, fascinating! The rare instance of narrowing the island. Thanks Paul!
Thank YOU, Rob. I'm loving your pieces and hope they turn into a collection one day - on paper - that we can all buy. The old Meat Market was a special place, but all things must pass, I suppose.
I’m hoping for that too, thanks Paul! I imagine when the meat market moved in people were pining for the days when it was Fort Gansevoort and, in the future, people will be reminiscing about the wonder that was the Restoration Hardware flagship. Maybe.
Yeah, it's funny how that works. People reminisce about Hogs & Heifers, but I remember when their arrival was the canary in the coal mine. We're looking at Yorkville, but who knows? When I'm on my bike, out and about, that part of the Upper East Side feels more like old New York than the West Village. Either way, good luck. I have done a few books of my own. Please feel to reach out if you wanted my experience.
1. Thank you for covering a tiny bit of the city's LGBT+ history. It's always enlightening to hear about how hidden away these places had to be and how misunderstood and maligned AIDS was in political circles. Reagan really fucked us over on that front. It's tragic how unmoored in history a lot of us were without an older generation to anchor us, having been lost to the disease.
2. I need to hear more from that woman in the sights and sounds who was listing all the alcohol someone stole from her. She was really attached to that bottle of Casamigos. Sounded like quite a confrontation!
3. Those topsy-turvy looking buildings in the background of the 5th photo are bonkers. They made me feel a tiny bit seasick.
I recently finished the Gods of New York and it was a really illuminating look at NYC in the 80s, particularly in the city's approach to the AIDS crisis under Mayor Koch. I'm not sure these clubs were that hidden though they were for sure off the beaten path. Their visibility is what put them in the crosshairs of city government. At the same time, activists correctly argued that making everything go even more underground would serve the opposite purpose that closing the clubs was supposed to do.
Yeah, that was some major Casamigos drama!
I spent a while thinking the photo was crooked before remembering those are the towers of the XI building, once described as ""two drunken figures on the verge of keeling over."
Thanks as always Justin!
I loved Gods of New York.
Strange coincidence—I’m posting this from my suite at the Liberty Inn!
$95 for two hours is a pretty good deal!
That MRC manhole cover is such a good find! I also love your photos of Little Island and the Pier 54 arch - I would hang both of those on my fridge.
Also Brian Rose's 1985/2013 photos of the phone booth replaced with a Van Leeuwen truck speaks volumessssss about how the neighborhood has changed 😅
I love that the manhole covers are still there as are the pipes that used to circulate the Hudson brine around the neighborhoods.
Brian really captured both sides of the neighborhood pendulum. I wonder if 20 years from now everyone is going to be nostalgic for the days you could buy a Cybertruck and get a scoop of Van Leeuwens from a van.
(Oh, and I left your article for a bit at the mention of “Restoration Hardware”. You referring to it as a high end furniture store made me pause saying “Whaaaaaa’?” and going down a rabbit hole investigating this. Cause when I lived in Houston back between say ‘95 and ‘02, I swear I went to a Restoration Hardware store with a friend and they had literal knobs and hinges, among other kitsch-ier items — not furniture, let alone high end furniture. Well, I left Houston in ‘02, left NYC for Norway in ‘05 and things change, I guess (including the advent of pickleball mania, which I am fixated upon).)
I think RH left the world of knobs and hinges behind once they started sending out their infamous 17lb (no joke) catalog, featuring 3,300 pages of “curated and inspired design.”
Zowie!
Florent stands out in my mind for its wicked smart collaboration with Tibor Kalman’s design firm M&Co.
Some amazing work! I meant to include an early map of the restaurant they collaborated on which was actually an inverted map of where Market St. intersects with The Embarcadero in San Francisco. They threw some familiar street names on the somewhat similar looking grid ensuring that practically nobody, for a while at least, would be able to find the restaurant.
Somewhere I have matchbooks they did for Florent, and for the China Grill in Midtown. Back when people smoked in restaurants. Weren't those the days...I can't remember, Rob, are you a native New Yorker?
I just saw some of those for sale on eBay. $125! I’m a transplant. I lived in the UWS for a year after college in the 90s and then moved here for good a little over 20 years ago.
I lived on 83 between CPW and Columbus in 1986/7, then Times Square for a couple of years before I returned to Minnesota. $125 for a matchbook! Maybe I'll have to do some excavation...
I continue to enjoy your articles and photos very much. This brings back memories - during the late 60's-early 70's my father was a night watchman for a meat packing business in the area. To my dismay, he appeared to be paid in frozen chicken. I never want to eat another once frozen chicken. Then in the early 80's, my mother was apartment sitting not very far from one of the clubs. My younger sister was visiting the night they heard a fatal fight in the street. Between the despised chicken and the violent evenings, I confess to not developing a fondness for the area. Still I enjoyed your writing and photos.
Ha! That’s an incentive not to work overtime. Either of those would be enough to keep me away for good. Thanks Liz and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year too
My mom and I moved to 14th and 9th around 1974. I remember the Dick Tracey painting but I don't recall it ever being a functioning comic book shop. I could be wrong but my dad was a comic writer and I feel like I'd likely remember if it was. Curious if anyone can confirm this. Anyway, here is a fun fact: in the late 80s the pay phone on the southwest side of the street would frequently ring in the evenings. If you answered, you would be offered a sexual encounter of one kind or another.
Sometimes, if a phone rings, it’s best not to pick it up. Or, depending on where you are at in life, you better answer.
I tracked down a tax photo from the 80s and, though its low-res you can see COMICS painted on the yellow facade of the building: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rh4brznl8p4gltay2hkqn/comics.jpg?rlkey=7mwq1qn0jd7mwjpppqiniw8o4&dl=0
Thanks for the sleuthing, Rob! Your eyes are better than mine 'cause I can't make out the letters but I'll take your word for it. I guess by the early 80s my interest in comic books had waned and my dad was long out of the neighborhood. Happy holidays and I appreciate your excellent work!
Merry Christmas Rob. Thanks for your wonderful posts and pics.
Same to you, thanks Jon!
Thank you for another year of time travel, investigation and wonderful photography (as well as all the murders, demolished buildings and tips about other great photographers). Have a great Christmas.
Will! Thanks for sticking with me, hope you have a great holiday too!
Lovely snow photos, Rob! My spouse, Mark, worked at a restaurant called Fressen in 1999, which was the first restaurant to open in the Meatpacking aside from Florent, (which I still miss!!) The transformation of this neighborhood is still wild to me.
Thanks! never made it to Fressen but judging by the Post write up, I missed out!
"Inside the frosted glass doors it’s an eye feast of wall-to-wall, poly-sexual Gothamites in party mode."
haha omg 😆
The whole article is really something https://nypost.com/1999/08/04/fressens-fizzing-but-its-not-the-food/.
😂 Like what was the point of that writeup?
Post always Postin’
Jacquie Ottman made a book about her family’s Meatpacking business! https://www.wehatetowaste.com/MEATPACKING/
I got that one!
My grandfather George Magee (born in 1882) was a NYC Policeman. He was assigned to the West Village precinct that included the Meatpacking District. My mother recalled that during the Depression he would occasionally come home from work with prime cuts of meat. The story about the suckling pig is pretty funny. He claimed the the meat markets would "give away" expensive cuts of meat that they couldn't sell.
Wow! Is your grandfather the same George Magee mentioned in this NY Times article from 1925? https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1925/09/13/104186127.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
It's very possible. The article says "former detective" and my grandfather did become a detective although I'm not sure when. There is a NYT article about him escorting an extradited criminal back to the UK. It's interesting that this article places him in Chinatown. He was born on Mott Street. I sent all of our family file to my niece who has begun to research the family in more detail. The Oak Street Station was on the LES.
Wow! Some chicken wars!!! Happy New Year and best for 2026!!
Love this Rob. My mother loved a steak restaurant in this area and took us there every year for years. I always feel nostalgic when I pass by this part of NYC. Thanks so much for your thoughtful, informative posts.
I wonder if that restaurant was Old Homestead which predates Peter Luger by a decade and claims to be the oldest running steakhouse in the country. It’s still open too!
OMG I think it might be! I'll ask my brother! He lives in Manhattan
Wonderful writing, a history lesson, and fascinating photographs, thank you!
Thanks for reading Lisa!