Articles on the Gentrification in the Meatpacking District:
According to the New York Times Article, “After Blood and Guts, Seeking Landmark Glory; Many Residents Aim to Save Meatpackers Along With Neighborhood’s Gritty Charm,” the Meatpacking District in 2001 was characterized as follows: “The sidewalks run with rivulets of greasy blood, and prostitutes pick their way around discarded chunks of fat. Beginning at 3 a.m., the luggers, with red-stained sleeves, hang beef carcasses on moving hooks and escort them, as if they were dance partners, along rails that lead into refrigerated cutting rooms.”
– The area was characterized by the Meatpackers and the prostitutes in the 1990s throughout the early 2000s. Today, the neighborhood has completely changed, forcing the meatpackers to move out of the area.
According to The Cooperator, “After dark, an entirely different element took over the narrow, twisting streets. Drug dealers peddled their wares to junkies and low-rent hustlers, and any pedestrian foolhardy enough to venture west of Ninth Avenue did so at their own risk.”
“..transsexual prostitutes and gay leather bars in the area. Between about 1950 and 1990, the Meatpacking District was a place one went to get lost–or to find something not readily available anywhere else.”
– Neighborhood was characterized by high crime, which included drugs, prostitution, murders.
According to The Cooperator: “Among the commercial newcomers to the district were edgy, fashion-forward shops, art galleries, and restaurants founded by some of the most ambitious entrepreneurs in New York City. More than two-dozen bars, clubs, and restaurant-lounges have dared to stake out territory in the former no-man’s land since the early 1990s.”
– The gentrification of the Meatpacking District is characterized by the chic fashion stores such as Tory Burch, DVF, Alexander McQueen and many many more. It has become a safe neighborhood, which attracts many young club-goers.
Movies filmed in the Meatpacking District:
Sex and the City (Buddakan’s Lounge: modern Asian cuisine restaurant)
Sex and the City (Soho House Club)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkKF4ghkfm8
These two videos specifically show the portrayal of “todays” Meatpacking District. The chic, fancy and high-class neighborhood.
Coyote Ugly (Bar)
Coyote Ugly
This video shows the era in the Meatpacking District where prostitution and strip clubs were hot, specifically in the 1970s, 1980s.
