Much is changing in the Meatpacking District (MPD), continuing the dependable trend. Several new businesses joined the neighborhood, some favorites are sadly departing, and there's always something happening in our 24-hour neighborhood.

New Business
Welcome and good fortune to these new establishments.

- Art -

Our Art Section features insight from these galleries.
Leo Kesting Gallery, founded by John Leo and David Kesting, promotes their artists here and in their Williamsburg, Brooklyn Capla Kesting Fine Art Gallery, undiscovered artists with a cutting edge to their craft who might otherwise be missed by the contemporary art scene.

43 8th Avenue Gallery, new to our guidebook, features emerging and mid-career artists who have come to New York City from all over the world. While Chelsea or 57th Street might not, owner Alex Beitler showcases each great, happy artist in a solo exhibit.

- Eat/Drink -

Dell'anima, open late until 2am, features a hearty, eloquent menu that changes daily and brings the Italian respite of aperitivo, the tradition of before dinner drinks and food, to the MPD weekends from 4pm-6pm. http://dellanima.com/

Los Dados warms with Mexican home cooking, serving street food late into the night courtesy of the visionaries at Lotus. http://losdadosmexican.com

Merkato 55's chef Marcus Samuelsson, the talent behind Aquavit, gathers favored foods and flavors from all over his homeland Africa under one roof.
http://merkato55.com

- Others -

The Apple Store has a sleek new corner building always teeming with folks where Markt once fed the neighborhood. http://apple.com

Y-3 New York by Adidas features Yohji Yamamoto's designs which created a new category of fashion for sports. Yamamoto also has a new location in the MPD.
http://y3store.com

Serge Normant at John Frieda Salon is helmed by Normant who styles Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts and non-celebrities alike. Haircuts are so great, some fly from Texas and Georgia for standing appointments.
http://johnfrieda.com

- The New Gansevoort Plaza -

A grassroots, community-driven effort, with help from the Department of Transportation, realized the installation of 15,000 square feet of new public space in Gansevoort Plaza. The formerly confusing, wide-open, five-street intersection now features outdoor places set up in time for warmer weather, places to rest in between tooling the galleries, restaurants, dress shops and various other great businesses in our area, both established and new.

- Office Space -

An unusual site in the low-rise MPD, a 10-story glass office tower is under construction on top of a former meatpacking plant. The High Line runs through the building, and the park will be accessible from the building by a staircase and elevator. Another 80,000-square-foot office building is being erected. Situated behind Pastis, this building will span the full width of the block between West 13th Street and Little West 12th Street.

- Florent 's Closing -

After 23 years, Florent is closing the doors to his French diner that became a MPD institution. Unable to sustain a rent increase from $6K to around $50K per month, Florent is confirmed to close at the end of June. Owner Florent Morellet is the MPD pioneer partly responsible for successfully championing the cause to get us named a Historic District.

In a bon-voyage party running the five weeks from Memorial Day to Gay Pride on June 29, Florent plans to theme each week around the five stages of grieving: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. But he doesn't want the many fans of his restaurant to cry for him. Seeing it as another adventure beginning, Florent plans to continue creating his memoirs and his art, drawing maps of cities that exist in his imagination. Much good fortune to all at Florent in their new endeavors, a MPD staple surely to be missed, another to suffer from rising rents.

The High Line is finishing up to open fall 2008 (update on page 10).

The High Line Ballroom, a new performance space inspired by and benefitting the High Line, provides open sightlines of the stage from every area within the club. Presenting the best in cutting edge and eclectic music, the club donates $.25 from every ticket sold to Friends of the High Line.
http://highlineballroom.com

The Standard Hotel's construction is going well, and The Whitney Museum is quietly planning its downtown location set to straddle the MPD end of the High Line.

The Meatpacking District Initiative, with a full roster of events this year including their successful Design Week, is working hard to promote our area.
http://meatpacking-district.com

 

Really great and informative sites to keep up with MPD news and events during the year:

http://MeatPackingDistrict.com
http://Eater.com
http://Gawker.com
http://NYMag.com
http://NYSun.com
http://Gothamist.com