Save Gansevoort Market has made incredible progress in the last several months, and we are now closer than ever to our goal of ensuring the preservation of this special neighborhood. However, a big push is necessary to achieve our goal of historic district designation for the Gansevoort Market district, and we need your help.
In March, after a 2 ½ year effort, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) held a hearing on a potential Gansevoort Market historic district. The proposed district included almost all of the area we had asked of the LPC, stretching from 15th Street to Horatio Street, and from west of Washington Street to east of Hudson Street (CLICK HERE for maps of our proposed district and the district heard by the LPC). The hearing was a tremendous success – we had one of the largest turnouts to an LPC hearing in recent memory, and our supporters included Gansevoort neighbors, business owners and property owners; local elected officials and community groups; local, state and national preservationists; and even the meatpackers union representing hundreds of workers in the area!
Of course this comes on top of some other tremendous successes we have had in the past year – Gansevoort being named one of New York State’s “7 to Save” by the Preservation League of NY State; the withdrawal of the variance application for the 450-foot tall residential hi-rise at 848 Washington Street; Gansevoort being determined eligible for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places; and thousands of New Yorkers and nearly every major preservation organization in New York joining us in calling upon the LPC to designate this district.
But we continue to face tough challenges as well – development pressure in the area increases. And some new developments which violate the scale and historic character of the area are, in spite of our best efforts, too late to stop. Other plans and projects involving unsympathetic alterations and additions to the neighborhood or destruction of existing buildings continue to move forward.
That is why we must urge the LPC not to wait any longer, and to designate the Gansevoort Market historic district as soon as possible. All indications are that they recognize the important value of this neighborhood, as well as the breadth of support for its designation. But we must let them know that time is of the absolute essence, and that we cannot allow the erosion of any more of this precious, fragile area’s historic fabric.
And you can help by doing the following:
Please write to the LPC as soon as possible urging them to immediately designate the entire Gansevoort Market district as heard in March – our letter writing and postcard campaign was incredibly effective in getting the LPC to schedule the original hearing, and it can be invaluable in getting them to now vote to designate the historic district. CLICK HERE for sample letters and addresses.
Send a link of this page to your family, friends and neighbors, and ask them to also write. You can also contact GVSHP at gvshp@gvshp.org or 212/475-9585 if you would like copies of the “Save Gansevoort Market” postcard we have printed to be sent to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, to distribute to your family, friends, and neighbors.
Please also consider making a contribution to Save Gansevoort Market. Funding allows us to continue this battle with the vigor, energy, and resources we need to achieve success. To make it through this important stage of the effort, we need your help. CLICK HERE for a pintable form to mail in and make a contribution to Save Gansevoort Market.
Please act now. If we want the Commission to act quickly and designate the district before further changes erode the area’s character, we must let them know loud and clear -- we don’t have a moment to waste.
Thank you again for all of your support for Save Gansevoort Market. We will keep you informed of all of our continued work and progress in protecting this area we hold so dearly.
Greenwich Village – Culminating a two and a half year battle to preserve Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, or Gansevoort Market, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation announced today that it had succeeded in securing a hearing date for a proposal to designate a Gansevoort Market Historic District. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 18, at 9:30 am, at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (Municipal Bldg., One Centre Street, 9th floor).
“We are thrilled that the Landmarks Preservation is taking this incredibly important step towards ensuring that Gansevoort Market, Manhattan’s last remaining market neighborhood, will be preserved,” stated Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman. “The unique sense of place – the cobblestoned streets, the low-rise rowhouse and market buildings, the metal awnings, the rustic warehouses, can and should be preserved for future generations to appreciate. Gansevoort Market tells a powerful story of New York’s rise as a mercantile hub and as a place where food and other products are made, distributed and sold. As a neighborhood, Gansevoort Market has shown remarkable resilience over the years, taking on new life recently as a center of nightlife, galleries, restaurants, and upscale stores, even as it has retained its meat market businesses and its gritty architecture. Historic district designation and protections will help ensure that it remains the special place that it has been for generations, even as it continues to evolve and grow,” he added.
The Gansevoort Market district faces intense development pressure and increasing threats to tear down or permanently alter its historic buildings. A 13-story aluminum clad hotel is under construction right now in the proposed historic district at Hudson and 13th Streets, and just beyond the district's edges at Washington and 13th Streets, a developer is applying for permission from the City to build a 462-ft. tall residential tower. At the same time, however, dozens of meat businesses employing hundreds of workers continue to thrive in the district, and many of the older buildings are being preserved and renovated for use as photography studios, galleries, retail spaces, clubs, and restaurants.
In 2000, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation founded its “Save Gansevoort Market” project, a coalition of residents, preservationists, merchants, community leaders and elected officials fighting to preserve the integrity of the historic meat packing district and secure landmark status for the area. In 2002,
GVSHP formally submitted a proposal for designation of a Gansevoort Market historic district to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, following a postcard campaign in which 5000 New Yorkers sent messages to the Mayor and the LPC Chair urging them to designate a Gansevoort Market historic district. Later that year, GVSHP successfully secured a determination of eligibility for the Gansevoort Market district for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places, and secured a place for Gansevoort Market on the New York State Preservation League’s annual “Seven to Save” list, naming it one of New York State’s seven most important, endangered historic sites.
If designated, the Gansevoort Market historic district will be the first new historic district in Greenwich Village since 1969. Currently, about 1/3 of Greenwich Village is included in 1 large and 3 small historic districts. The Gansevoort Market Historic District which the LPC has agreed to consider stretches from Horatio and Gansevoort Street on its South side, to north of 14th Street on its north side, from east of Hudson Street on its east side, to Washington Street and just west of it on its west side. It includes all or part of 13 blocks and approximately 150 buildings. Structures in the district include rowhouses from the 1840’s, purpose-built and converted market buildings from the late-19th to the mid-20th centuries (many with the distinctive projecting metal awnings covering sidewalks which are characteristic of the district) and a remarkable array of late 19th and early 20th century loft, storage, warehouse, and manufacturing buildings.
Some of the more striking individual buildings include the Triangular “Little Flatiron” building at 669-681 Hudson Street (between 13th and 14th Streets), the rounded edged 53-61 Gansevoort Street, immortalized by Bernice Abbott’s 1936 photodocumentary “Changing New York”, the old Manhattan Refrigeration Company Warehouse at Gansevoort and Washington Streets (now the West Coast apartments), the “Homestead Row” of surviving rowhouses wrapping around the corner of 14th Street and 9th Avenue, which includes the ‘Old Homestead,’ which bills itself to be New York’s oldest steakhouse, established in 1868, the polychromatic former Collier’s Magazine printing plant at 416 West 13th Street, where modernist poet e.e. cummings once worked and was said to have developed his unconventional writing and grammar style, and the former stable and General Electric electric trolley car barn at 441 West 14th Street (for pictures of and further information about the history of Gansevoort Market, see the "Gansevoort Walking Tour" on GVSHP’s website at www.preserve.org/gvshp/walktour/walktour.htm, or “The Case for A Historic District” at www.preserve.org/gvshp/ganscase2.htm).
A small portion of GVSHP’s proposed historic district, including the High Line elevated rail line (which the City is currently considering preserving and re-using as an elevated public walkway and park), is not included in the district currently being considered by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The LPC has said that they will consider this area as a possible future extension of the historic district, and GVSHP has committed to advocating for its inclusion.
Gansevoort Market Historic District (as proposed by LPC)PDF
Gansevoort Market Historic District (as proposed by LPC)HTML
Wednesday December 11 was a huge day for our Save Gansevoort Market efforts, and we would like to update and thank everyone for their tremendous support and participation.
In the morning, more than 100 people showed up for the Board of Standards and Appeals hearing about the proposed residential hi-rise at 848 Washington Street. Our turnout was extremely impressive and unusual, as was our array of support - from elected officials, residents, businesses, preservationists, industry advocates, city agencies like the Department of City Planning and Department of Small Business Services, and even the Flower Market. Additionally, considerable positive media coverage of the hearing - including NY 1, Channels 4 and 11 News, the New York Times, WCBS 880 Radio and WFMU - generated further buzz about, and gave considerable weight to, our efforts to stop this project.
Most encouragingly, the Commissioners themselves expressed a tremendous amount of skepticism about the project on a host of fronts - the size, the use, its impact on neighboring businesses, etc. The applicant demanded time to rebut our considerable volume of opposing testimony, and the BSA granted them until March 4 to respond. This also allows our side until that date to submit any additional comments, so if you have not yet written to the BSA in opposition, please do so now (40 Rector Street, New York NY 10006 - go to www.gvshp.org, 'Save Gansevoort Market,' 'Fight the Tower' for further info). The BSA committed to arriving at a decision by March 25.
In the evening, in spite of terrible rain, over 100 people showed up for the Landmarks Preservation Commission's community meeting on a possible Gansevoort Market historic district. The impressive turnout was very helpful, as was the in-person show of support by State Senator Tom Duane and City Council Member Christine Quinn. The meeting was presided over by current LPC Chair Sherida Paulsen, and was observed by incoming LPC Chair Robert Tierney (a long-time Village resident, who is expected to become the Chair in January). After an initial presentation about the landmarking process, LPC was questioned about how quickly a Gansevoort district could move forward and how much of the proposed district would be included. Chair Paulsen said she could not yet say when she could calendar it (the next step in the process, which begins to provide some protection against demolition and inappropriate development), but that because of the LPC's schedule, early January would be the first opportunity.
The issue of boundaries was also discussed. No definite decisions were shared regarding what boundaries LPC would give to the district they have promised to put forward. However, the Chair did mention that because the City is examining the future of the High Line (which runs west of Washington Street and east of 10th Avenue through the proposed district), the LPC would probably not be in a position to include the High Line in any district it put forward right now, and might look to advance a second Gansevoort district which includes the High Line and areas to the west once these issues have been resolved. Sentiment was expressed by many of those gathered to keep the district as intact as possible, and the attached letter (click here) from GVSHP and State Senator Duane and Council Member Quinn following up on the hearing urges the Commission to look at ways to include as much of the area in a proposed district as possible.
If you have not yet written to the LPC or the Mayor in support of Gansevoort designation, please do so now (their respective addresses are One Centre Street 9th floor NY NY 10007, and City Hall NY NY 10007; go to www.gvshp.org, 'Save Gansevoort Market,' 'Urge the City to Save Gansevoort Market' for e-mail and further info). If you have already written, you can write again now to urge them to calendar a hearing as soon as possible, and to include as much of the threatened Gansevoort Market as possible.
While we still have a way to go on each of these fronts, we clearly have a great deal of momentum on our side, and the tremendous participation from our supporters has moved us light years forward. Thank you for your support and interest, and we will continue to keep you informed of our efforts and how you can help to Save Gansevoort Market.
Sincerely,
| Andrew Berman, Executive Director, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and Save Gansevoort Market |
Florent Morellet, Co-Chair, Save Gansevoort Market |
Jo Hamilton, Co-Chair, Save Gansevoort Market |
Late 2002 promises to be a critical time for our campaign to preserve the history, scale, and character of the Gansevoort Market neighborhood, Manhattan’s last remaining historic market district.
Last fall we presented the New York City Landmarks Preservation (LPC) Commission with a persuasive argument, prepared by architectural historian Thomas Mellins and funded by Preserve NY (a grant program of the NY State Preservation League and NY State Council on the Arts), for the area’s historical and architectural significance. Since then, we have met regularly with the LPC Chair and staff to update them on our efforts and meet their requests for information necessary to move forward on consideration of a district designation. As a result, we are presenting them with thorough building-by-building research on the entire district, photo-documentation and current use surveys of all buildings, and documentation of the area’s critical industrial history.
Early this year, the LPC Commissioner committed to take action in Gansevoort by the second half of 2002. Our completed case for designation will be submitted to the Commission in early September. It is our hope that shortly thereafter the Commission will vote to calendar our proposed Gansevoort Historic District for a formal hearing.
We also hope to meet with the Department of City Planning to discuss zoning tools which, in addition to landmarking, could be helpful to preserve Gansevoort’s unique character. We have taken senior staff at the Department of Business Services Commissioner on a tour of the area, to demonstrate Gansevoort’s vital and diverse small business base and to work with them to formulate ways to protect it. In July, we secured a determination of eligibility for Gansevoort Market for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places, which can provide some protection for the area, along with incentives and assistance for building preservation. This is the first determination of eligibility for a new area of Greenwich Village for listing on the National Register in over a generation. (Click here for more information.) We will be filing an extensive application for listing of the entire district in the fall (this is the first determination of eligibility for a new area of Greenwich Village for listing on the Register in over a generation). Lastly, Council Member Christine Quinn has requested on our behalf that the City’s Independent Budget Office prepare an analysis of Gansevoort’s economic output and growth, especially from its industrial base, to help make the case for preserving the businesses which provide the area’s 1000+ blue-collar jobs.
Meanwhile, we continue to firm up support for our campaign among preservationists and elected officials citywide, and have demonstrated our broad public support with over 5,000 postcards sent to the LPC by individuals supporting our historic district designation plan. We have also been successful in keeping a high profile for Gansevoort in the mainstream and preservation press, securing coverage in the New York Times, on ABC News, and in Preservation Magazine, among others. We have also produced a 28-page self-guided walking tour booklet of the neighborhood, highlighting the area’s unique features and further building a constituency for its preservation, (call the GVSHP office at 212/475-9585 if you desire a copy).
Of course, the threats to the district which originally spawned this campaign continue. The proposal for a 32-story, 400-foot tall luxury high-rise development at 848 Washington Street (at 13th Street) remains under consideration by the City’s Board of Standards and Appeals. However, our strong opposition and that of a broad range of community leaders, elected officials, and even the City’s own Department of City Planning, has delayed any further movement on that proposal. We are keeping a watchful eye on that process. To our disappointment, the City’s Department of Environmental Protection has decided not to use the parking lot, located between Gansevoort, Hudson, 13th Street and 9th Avenue, as a staging area for water tunnel construction. This would have precluded development on the site for some time and possibly facilitated the development of a park there, a prospect which we strongly supported. Instead, the parking lot site has been cleared and the property owner has resurrected a plan for a hotel development. We are working closely with our local elected officials and the Community Board to see if the City acted appropriately in reversing its original decision to use this site, and will closely monitor the situation and any new development plans. Beyond that, several alterations and additions to buildings in the district have moved forward or been announced recently, underscoring the need for designation quickly in order to ensure that building changes maintain the area’s distinctive and historic character.
We have begun a new postcard campaign calling upon the LPC to immediately schedule a hearing for designation. Kicked off at the Meat Markets’ Annual Bastille Day celebration, our postcard campaign gathered hundreds of signatures in its very first day. If you would like hard copies of the postcard for yourself or to distribute, please contact us at 212/475-9585.
We ask that you please send short note or letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair and the Mayor expressing similar sentiments. You can use as a model (or print out) the letters accessible below.
The next few months will be critical to building on these efforts and securing the protections the Gansevoort Market area needs. If we do not succeed now, we may not get a second chance to save this unique and treasured part of New York.
We hope that you will continue to remain interested in our efforts, and we expect to have more developments, and hopefully more successes, to report to you soon.
Save Gansevoort Market is a project of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation