Welcome to Chelsea
Chelsea, in February, we celebrate love. The Times Square Alliance, for its 10th year, commissioned a Valentine’s Day art installation entitled “Window to the Heart.” the world’s largest lens is on view until February 28th. No one knows how Valentine’s Day originated; however, some believe it is due to the Fourteenth Century bard Geoffrey Chaucer‘s poem “Saint Valentine” in the Parliament of Fowls. “The poem ends with a song praising Saint Valentine, “providing promise that, even in the depths of winter, summer is not all that far off.”
Chelsea Culturally Inclined
This month’s Culturally Inclined focuses on Chelsea, a historically affluent neighborhood with a vibrant cultural scene. The area is flanked by two large institutions: the new Whitney Museum along the High-Line and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and Madison Square Garden, the world’s most famous arena in the heart of the Garment District. There are over 200 renowned art galleries, a vast culinary restaurant and food scene sparked by the arrival of Chelsea Market, theater-dance and music scene, world-class fitness centers and gyms: Chelsea Piers, Equinox – Highline, NYHRC, Orangetheory Fitness, Barry’s Boot Camp, Peloton, Swerve, Flywheel, Fhitting Room, Shadow Box, Soul Cycle and the list goes on, and there plenty of shopping from big box stores to high-end boutiques and luxury department stores; such as Barneys and Jeffreys, and notable historical sites to explore.
Historical Architectural Styles and Neighborhoods
Chelsea is a blend of manufacturing, townhouses, high-rises, factories, lofts, auto garages, and warehouses. It spans several distinct architectural styles, such as Greek Revival, Cushman Row, Italianate, Anglo-Italianate, Neo-Crec, and French Second Empire. These styles are represented in the Historic District, an attractive neo-Gothic church of St. Paul, Art-Deco diner and Walker Tower condos, and modern and Starchitect high-rise apartment buildings. Chelsea’s boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the South and the Hudson River and West Street to the West, with the Northern boundary variously described as 30th Street or 34th Street and the eastern boundary as Sixth Avenue or Fifth Avenue. Chelsea comprises many famed commercial Districts from the past to the present day creations: Meat Packing (a.k.a. Gansevoort Market), Flower District, Gallery District | Hudson Yards | Westside Expansion (West Chelsea Historic District), Highline | Chelsea Historic| Tenderloin| Theater Row | Tin Pan Alley | Ladies Mile.
Love Lane “Chelsea”
Imagine before the American Revolution a mansion on a hill overlooking the majestic Hudson River surrounded by apple trees. This 94-acre estate was built by British Major Thomas Clarke, who named it Chelsea in honor and memory of the English veterans hospital, as well as his fellow soldiers from home. During the eighteenth century, Old Chelsea had a romantic route for buggy-ride courtships along the water’s edge. “Love Lane,” as it was called, started at Broadway (a.k.a. Bloomingdale Road) and followed a path curving along 21st Street past the London Terrace lot and hugging the waterline. The map below or visit Randall’s Survey depicts Love Lane cutting across a defunct thoroughfare known as Fitz Roy Road.
General Theological Seminary
Clement Clarke Moore, a Professor of Oriental and Greek literature, Divinity, and Biblical learnings. And well known for writing the Christmas poem A Visit From Saint Nick inherited the Chelsea Estate. Moore subdivided the land and donated it to the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Seminary and Church (now High Line Hotel) was built on the land. It stands today with a beautiful interior garden. The oldest continuously operating seminary in the United States sold some of its land. It adjoined the eastern edge of the General Theological Seminary. The Chelsea Enclave is a 53-condo building with access to the seminary park. This building was built and sold by the Brodsky Group, blending a modern design with the Gothic Revival Seminary buildings.
El Rail
Although Clement Moore had strict development restrictions as outlined in the Chelsea Historic District report, the advent of the Hudson River Railroad tracks and the World’s first elevated train line up Ninth (also known as the “El rail” now (Death Avenue) the High Line). The mid-1800s profoundly affected the area, including the development of Chelsea Piers in 1907 for Trans-Atlantic luxury ships. In 1884, the famous Hotel Chelsea – “a place built beautifully, designed to bridge class divisions and to value the arts” – opened on 23rd Street in the area, which was then New York City’s theater district (Kellogg). This is when Chelsea’s artistic nature began, which continues to this day.
Forgotten Chelsea
There was a time when Chelsea was forgotten, and no one knew where it was. As an exuberant yuppie, introduction to Chelsea was the clubbing scene dancing under the colorful strobe lights to the syncopated beat at the Limelight and the Tunnel into the wee hours of the morning. Then, my friends and I would all head to the famed 1940s Empire Diner or Florent for a light bite before heading home. My first apartment was one in which I lived on my own. It was a studio in Chelsea with one main multi-purpose room, a separate bathroom, and a kitchen. I was so excited that the apartment had a large walk-in closet, a charming brick wall that faced the historic London Terrace with lots of natural light, and just West of the famed Chelsea Hotel where many great rockers and literary giants (Dylan Thomas, O’Henry, Thomas Wolf, Arthur Miller, Mark Twain, and many others) lived. In New York City, we live for our closets and proximity to transportation and the arts. The area at that time remained a Meat Market, literally and figuratively. In those early days, the area was grittier, and Chelseaites were outwardly artistic and self-expressive. And, yet, the area reflected a glimmer, a fragment of the beauty of the past and the future that was on its way.
Chelsea Renaissance
The area Renaissance began with the New York City Waterfront Greenway Project creating open spaces for pedestrians, cyclists and commuters in concert with the launch of Chelsea Piers Sports Fitness Center and beautification of the Hudson River Parks, followed by the opening of Chelsea Market in the Old Nabisco Biscuit building known for the creation of the first Oreo cookie (click on link for vintage commercials), Lorna Doone, Nutter Butter, Mallomars and Saltines.
Chelsea Today
Now, Chelsea market is home to a vast array of food specialty shops, restaurants, and media and broadcasting companies (Food Network, Oxygen Network, MLB, BAMTech, EMI Mush Publishing, local cable stations), and across the street is the Google headquarters, which just increased their footprint with a $2.4 Billion Deal for Chelsea Market. With the decline in manufacturing, the high-end galleries occupied these buildings and permeated the far western corner of Chelsea. And the arrival of big-box stores. To name a few Pottery Barn, Old Navy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Container Store, Modell’s Sporting Goods, Men’s Warehouse, T.J. Max, and Home Depot and Trader Joe’s along the old Ladies Mile corridor of 6th Avenue, the Rubin Museum — art and cultural hub showcasing the Himalayas, India, and neighboring region, and the High Line, a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park, Greenway, the famed architect Ralph Thomas Walker art deco telephone building: Walker Tower 50 unit condo conversion where A-Listers flocked to at record prices, Avenue’s World School an international system of a for-profit private school for pre-K-12th grade in 2012, and rail trail and Hudson Yards, a 28-acre mega development continues to transform and inspire more development in the area.
Eclectic and Cultural Chelsea
Eclectic Chelsea is leading the path to New York’s future with a growing office district, food, arts, and cultural destination. Chelsea has the only public gun range in Manhattan: the Chelsea Westside Rifle and Pistol Range – 20 West 20th was established in 1964 and is home to the Joyce Theater, an International Leader for dance presentations, and The Kitchen, one of New York City’s oldest nonprofit spaces, showing innovative work by emerging and established artists across disciplines. And, repertory theater companies: Urban Stages – 259 West 30th Street | Atlantic Theater Linda Gross – 336 West 20th Street located in a Gothic Revival Parish House for St. Peter’s Church built in 1871 | Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2 – 330 West 16th Street – new play house inauguration was June 2006 | Irish Repertory Theater – 132 W 22nd St recently renovated.
Popular Establishments
Given Valentine’s Day and George Washington, our Founding Father’s Birthday month. Chelsea has many excellent establishments where you can pick up a sweet to celebrate. Sweet Tooth lovers check-out Empire Cake – 112 Eight Avenue | City Cakes – 251 Eighth Avenue (Lower Level) | Billy’s Bakery – 184 Ninth Avenue, Harbs a Japanese Cakes & Coffee restaurant serving lite fare on 198 Ninth Avenue, and La Bergamote Patisserie at 177 Ninth Avenue. Additionally, the area has the best donuts: Donut Pub, established 1964 – 203 West 14th Street…..Dough on 14 West 19th Street | and Donut Planet – 220 West 23rd Street. Or, plan a romantic rendezvous or an evening to quench your thirst at one of these cool Speak Easy | Cocktail Bar establishments: Bathtub Gin – 132 Ninth Avenue. The Stone Street Coffee shop is its cover, but head on through the secret door. You will find a space designed in the spirit of the prohibition era with its cooper tub. The Raines Law Room – 48 West 17th Street (between 5th & 6th), the intersection of Chelsea and Flatiron. You will find a Black door drawing you to a subterranean clubby space. Call in advance for reservations since it’s trendy—the Tippler – 425 West 15th Street in the Basement of Chelsea Market. The space design with a wood“water tower and train rails from the nearby High Line harkening to the area’s industrial past. The Porchlight – 271 11th Avenue, a cocktail bar with a Southern twist | Electric Room and the PHD Rooftop Lounge– in Dream Hotel.
This Valentine’s Day, visit Chelsea’s Sugar Cookies and Milène Jardine Chocolatier – Artisanal Chocolate Truffles for a gift
122 West 20th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenue) |
Opportunity for Collaboration: Let’s Connect!
I look forward to continuing to explore the vibrant neighborhoods of New York with you. Reach out to me to say hello and tell me about your neighborhood’s adventures. I can answer any questions and guide you or someone from your network through the changing real estate market.
