14 Nov Chelsea Market

One of my favorite spots for ‘meandering’ in New York is Chelsea Market, located at 75 Ninth Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets). It’s described by Wikipedia as “an enclosed urban food court, shopping mall, office building and television production facility located in the Chelsea neighborhood.” It houses such companies as The Oxygen Network, the Food Network, MLB.com and more recently, Google has moved into some of the upper floors.

If you walk through the main floor hallways you’ll immediately catch the aroma of breads baking in Amy’s Bakery or fresh coffee brewing at Ninth Street Expresso. Oh, and there’s People Pops with every kind of ‘ice pop’ you can imagine (on the day I was there: concord grape, spiced apple, coffee milk & sugar, pear & cardamom).

But more so than the delectable delights, it’s the architectural restoration that really takes my breath away.

I have a current project that involves the re-development of an old mill. So while in NY last month, I ran by Chelsea Market to get some close-up shots of the many details retained in the re-development – in hopes I could convince my client to do likewise.

Before its renovation as a retail shopping mall, Chelsea Market was the old National Biscuit Company, or better known as Nabisco. Their ovens baked everything from Saltine Crackers to Oreos. As the years went on they acquired other bakeries, produced other sweets, and finally closed their doors in 1958. Read the full history.

In keeping with their theme of industrial archeology that runs throughout the property, the new owners, developers and architects had the foresight to save many of the relics in the building. Enjoy:

No brick column too old to salvage!

Although some reproductions, all details were correct:

A coat of bright orange paint adds such a touch of whimsy to these steel steps:

Yes, that is indeed a bat hanging from the rafters. After all, it was the week before Halloween…in New York!

The floors. No matter how uneven, how scratched up or how splintered, they were saved:

If you get a chance to visit New York, please make time to visit Chelsea Market. Plan to stay awhile. There’s lots to see and more importantly, lots to eat!

(more photos of Chelsea Market architectural details)