Thirty minutes early for a meeting Friday, I decided to high tail it over to Chelsea Market to take a few quick early morning photos.
I think Chelsea Market has got to be one of the most visually appealing shopping, eating and work complexes in the city. Investor Irwin Cohen and his architects, Vendeberg Architects, did a masterful job of retaining the structure of the old biscuit companies that occupied the building from the 1890s up until the 1950s.
The shop keepers on the ground floor have done an exceptional job of maintaining a certain homemade, old-style look-and-feel to their signage and the way they display their goods in their shop windows. Of course there’s plenty of new mixed in with what looks like old.
Exposed brick, pipes and old signboards throughout the market give the space an authentic industrial feel. There’s also supposed to be an original train shed someplace in the market. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. Then again, I don’t know what a train shed is supposed to look like.
It’s a good thing I already had breakfast. Or I’d definitely be all over Sponge Bob and his cute little Muppet cupcake friends on the shelf above. They all seem to be saying, “Eat me.”
These curtains of light strands remind me of the hippy-dippy beads Anthony used to have hanging in the kitchen doorway of our East Village apartment. They were quite festive. I wonder how many strands of lights it took to do this?
Mary Maru
Wonderful photo’s Mary. You really captured the essence of the beauty and uniqueness of Chelsea Market. Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure, Susan.
I love that you took advantage of that extra 30 minutes to focus on beauty. I haven’t been there in a while, but you’re enticing me back. Have you been to Limelight Marketplace? That’s another place on my list.
All in all, I enjoy looking at the city through your eyes. LOL about the train shed.
I haven’t actually gone inside Limelight Marketplace though I’ve peeked in through the doorway a few times. My girlfriends and I used to frequent the Limelight back in our clubbing and bar hopping days in the ’80s. It was one of my favorite places to dance because of the little rooms set into nooks and alcoves. Plus the old piano that you could hear someone trying to play despite the blasting music. And the burning candles everywhere. A little cavernous and creepy but oh so fabulous at the same time. I think part of me doesn’t want to see the new inside. Don’t want to ruin the memories.