Chelsea and Meatpacking District

This page is about Chelsea and Meatpacking District and the area around West Village. Chelsea is the area close to where our hotel was, The Jane. Chelsea feels like a "normal" area where people actually live, but it is perfectly located just between Midtown and Lower Manhattan, a few blocks from Greenwich Village. It is mainly a residential area with many old townhouses and apartment blocks. Part of it is considered a historic district. The west part is considered an art district. But we only saw the south part of Chelsea, for example we never saw the famous Chelsea Hotel, where all the rockstars lived. It was in the wrong direction. Chelsea feels a bit like an independent area with veggie stores and restaurants and alternative stores, many of them operated by immigrants from Asia and Mexico. The name "Chelsea" comes from a manor in London.

Meatpacking District is right to the southwest of Chelsea. It is a small district with former slaughterhouses that have been transformed to upscale stores and restaurants. So it is a former rough area that has been gentrified.

South Chelsea:

Jackson Square.

Jackson Square.

Jackson Square Park is a small, but nice park that we visited almost every day since the nearest subway station was next to it, and it is a nice place to have breakfast.
It has a fountain and feels a bit like southern USA. You can find squirrels and pigeons there.

Jackson Square at 8th Ave, looking Northwards towards the West edge of Times Square (the skyscraper with the spire is NY Times Tower).

Streetscape near Jackson Square.

A beer store at Jackson Square.

This is probably North Village at 8th Avenue, but close to Chelsea.

8th Avenue.

Watching cars while waiting for the bus at 8th Avenue, where it goes from Chelsea to Times Square in a straight direction northwards.

Laundromat. Considered exotic by Scandinavians sine we do our laundry in our basements, if we live in apartments.

There are many nice townhouses in Chelsea.

Around The Jane, our hotel:

The Jane lies at the border of West Village and Meatpacking District, near Chelsea.

View of the busy West Street in Chelsea with Lower Manhattan (with WTC), Hudson River and Jersey City in the background, seen from The Jane Hotel.

West Street towards WTC. Just next to our hotel.

The Jane, our hotel at the nice Jane Street, go to the main page for a review. It has extremely small rooms with bunkbeds, but that is ok considering the price and location. The public areas are nice. The redbrick building looks nice as well. The hotel overlooks Hudson River. It is the hotel were the survivors of Titanic stayed.

The lobby of The Jane.

The view from the public bathroom of The Jane: East River, the Statue of Liberty (small) on Liberty Island and Jersey City, NJ.

Car storage outside our hotel.

The corridors of The Jane.

Jane Street just outside the hotel.

Café Gitane inside The Jane.

Chelsea streetscape.

A small park at Washington Street. A very "normal" area.

Architecture of the area of West Village, just next to Meatpacking District.

Meatpacking District:

Meatpacking District is right to the southwest of Chelsea. It is a small district with former slaughterhouses that have been transformed to upscale stores and restaurants. So it is a former rough area that has been gentrified. It consists of just a few blocks. We passed Meatpacking almost every day since our hotel was just next to it.

Meatpacking District generally consists of old slaughterhouse, where the ground floor has been renovated and converted into a luxorious brand stores, while the upper part of the building has been left derelict!

Below Standard Hotel (right). The part to the right is a former elevated railroad that has been converted into a park, called High Line Park.

Standard Hotel seen from High Line Park, a former elevated freight railroad. It was converted into a park in 2009. High Line Park runs 1.6 km northwards through buildings in Chelsea and ends at Jacob K Javitz Convention Center.

In 1900 the area was known as Gansevoort Market and was home to 250 slaughterhouses and warehouses. In the 1980s it was a sex district. In the early 1990s the transformation begun and many upscale brand stores moved in to the former slaughterhouses.

Jersey City's North part seen from High Line Park.

View from High Line Park: Luxorious bottoms, decadent roof and upper floors! Meatpacking District feels like a way to see grit for rich and trendy people who don't dare to go to the slums...

High Line Park seen from street level at Washington Street, Meatpacking District. Standard Grill is the restaurant beneath Standard Hotel.

Upscale fashion stores in former slaughterhouses, Washington Street.

The Police Connection at Washington Street.

Around Chelsea after dark:

This is how the garbage is stored while waiting for the truck, without any garbage can! It could be a shock for a Scandinavian!

Jane Street by night.

A liqueur store near Chelsea and West Village.