Loading

Chelsea Market New York USA

It was the last day in the big smoke, we caught the subway out to the Chelsea District to visit the Market and walk the High Line followed by a visit to the Tenement Museum.
The district of Chelsea is a big gay area, rainbow flags were flying from the tenements and it is a hub for art galleries all things trendy.  The Chelsea Market has an 8000 foot concourse and is a gourmet food lovers paradise.
Chelsea Market New York USA

The Market is in a huge brownstone building that takes up a whole city block, it is modern, edgy and beautifully decorated in the stripped back NY loft style……that everybody is trying to copy in all the fancy restaurants around the world.  Exposed light conduit, pipework that is an artwork….everything that is old and industrial.
Chelsea Market New York USAChelsea Market New York USA

The market is pretty swanky, there are individual shops selling all the best  of everything green and organic, plus retailers selling everything from baskets to knives, cookware, stationary and olive oils.

Among these beautiful shops are eyecatching artworks from local artists which adorn the walls as you walk from one shop to another.

Chelsea Market New York USA

Rosie and The Operator were passing through, and purchased coffee and a bagel for breakfast as our destination was above the streets, in the newest park in New York…..and it was amazing!

The High Line is a 1.5 mile stretch of old, elevated train track that rises above the city and has been reclaimed as a breezy, bushy park.

The High Line New York USA

Stairs and lifts give you access from the street, yet from street level it looks like an old iron victorian snake winding through the district.

The High Line New York USA

 

The sturdy track is blissfully quiet save for the tweeting of birds and the buzzing of bees that hover over the wildfowers that were just drying up on the fringes of the track.  There is so much birdlife up here it is incredible, after all we still are in the middle of Manhattan!

The High Line New York USA
The tracks vertically follow a road formally known as ‘Death Avenue’, today it is 10th Avenue.  In the heyday of shipping, cargo was bought from the docks to midtown rail yards along that road….many a horse, pedestrian or driver who were too slow crossing the busy tracks came to a sticky end.The High Line New York USA

The High Line New York USAThe City finally elevated the train tracks in the 1930s, trains blared along them until the mid 1980s….then industry abandoned the city centre and the tracks lay abandoned and unused. With the silence came the birds, wild grasses and urban creatures who just took over the area.  It fell into disrepair and was slated for demolition in 2002 until a group of inspired artists and philanthropists convinced city officials to make it a sustainable city park.  It has since proven so popular it is going to be extended.
The High Line New York USAIt is great to get a higher vantage point in this city, the height of the buildings overwhelms and dwarfs you.  Up on the high line when you look  down on the city it opens up the view and gives you perspective to the city below.The High Line New York USA

Vibrant murals on walls and art works positioned along the walk make for interesting discoveries, just remember you are exposed to full sun and the day starts to heat up mid morning….Rosie is glad they came early because it would be a killer in the heat of the day!

The High Line New York USA

The High Line New York USA

The High Line New York USA

The landscaping of the tracks is impeccable, hardwood decking has been used everywhere with concrete flower beds, beautiful furniture has been crafted and in some areas you can still see the train tracks level with the decking.  The plantings did look abit scrubby and unkept as all wildflower beds do at this time of the year, but they had a gardening crew cleaning up plantings as we spoke.

The High Line New York USAThe High Line New York USA

 

It was quite surreal in some places, walking along a track that is overgrown and weedy yet you can still see the city highrises around you gives the air of an end of days scenario…..where you are the last survivor in an empty silent city that is being taken back by nature.

We exited the tranquillity of the high line and headed through Soho to the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side.

This Museum has bought a tenement block just down the road from their shop at 97 Orchard Street, it was built in the 1860s and housed over 7000 immigrants during its lifespan, the building was abandoned in the late 1930s and all the tenants evicted as the landlord could not afford to refurbish the building to new fire and safety standards during the Depression.  It stood empty, as a living time capsule for over fifty years……this was when the Tenement Museum took it over.

http://www.tenement.org/about.html

Check out the website, it was the most awesome, informative and poignant 1 hour tour Rosie and The Operator has ever been on.

We did the Hard Times Tour which charts the lives of a German family new to America who lived in that building. We go into their flat and see how they lived, how little they had, hear their story of how they were making it in the new land until the banks crashed in 1877 due to the failure of the railways. How they coped with no work, how one day the father went to look for work and didnt come back…..how the mother had to support the family and how she managed to get back on her feet…..All the stories are real, there are photos of the people and supporting historical documents.  We then went forward in time and hear the story and view the apartment of an Italian family who lived in the building and immigrated through Ellis Island, they too have a story of hardship through the Great Depression and racial discrimination.
The building is amazing, the wallpaper is peeling, the floors are sagging and the walls are crooked.  It is described as a time capsule and it is, every high and low was felt in the stories and they truly came alive, you could feel, smell and look out the windows of their apartment and know how they felt.  The only thing that let it down……no photos 🙁

That evening we went into Times Square to do abit of souvenir shopping….you know, it has to be done…..The Metropolitan Opera was broadcasting a show live in the Square on every big screen you could see…..The sopranos were soaring and the tenors were booming……all in super screen high definition….CRAZY! Seats were laid out in the square and there were thousands of people sitting watching…..CRAZY

Rosie and The Operator scooted in and out, mission accomplished!