Preservation Plan Cover Image

Download the entire 14th Street and Union Square Preservation Plan

Preservation Plan Alternate Cover Image

Download the abridged Preservation Plan (as given to guests at the oral presentation)

Hudson River to Ninth Avenue

Most of the area is a part of the Gansevoort Market Historic District (both locally and nationally designated), bounded by Chelsea to the north and Greenwich Village to the south, and effectively severed from the Hudson River waterfront by the West Side Highway. The area is characterized by low-scale, brick, industrial buildings and mid-nineteenth-century tenements built for industrial workers. In the last decade, the local economy of the area (known as the Meatpacking District) has undergone a complete conversion from light industrial use to commercial use.

Zoning Summary

The M2 zoning designation is defined as medium manufacturing, with a maximum F.A.R. of 2.0. M2-3 is a zoning designation specific to waterfront areas, allowing primarily recreational, cultural, entertainment and retail uses. Public access to the waterfront area is required under this zoning designation. The M1 zoning designation is defined as light manufacturing, with a maximum F.A.R. of 5.0., and use is limited to manufacturing and commercial use, excluding residential use.

The Hudson River Park Act controls the use of the piers, and prohibits certain kinds of activities such as offices, hotels and casinos. The current land use is mainly industrial and commercial. Illegal residential units on the upper floors of industrial buildings have also been identified. The major type of commercial activity is high-end retail, which has succeeded in displacing the meatpacking businesses active in the area since the early 1900s. Pier 54 is used as a venue for free movies and concerts during the summer, and Pier 56 has been abandoned for approximately three decades. Most of the structures in the area are underbuilt.

Physical Conditions

From the east side of Ninth Avenue to the Hudson River, the building styles change from residential row houses to low, wide brick industrial buildings with large openings (both windows and doors), designed to improve interior working conditions by maximizing light penetration. The widths of the buildings vary from one lot (with a width of twenty-five feet), to five lots. Several of the buildings on the south side of 14th Street have large marquees, or canopies, used for hanging carcasses of meat during the meatpacking process. These marquees are specific to this region of 14th Street, and they contribute to the darker, more enclosed atmosphere that defines the street. This industrial atmosphere, as well as the textural quality of the Belgian Block used to pave the streets, is what makes this area desirable for fashion designers and art galleries. The only other instance of the use of Belgian Block paving along 14th Street is found at Stuyvesant Town.

Only one building in the Meatpacking District on 14th Street is still used for meatpacking. Some buildings are totally abandoned, some house illegal residents, and many have been adaptively reused to house retail. The first floors of these buildings have been dramatically altered to create storefronts for the new high-end retail businesses that occupy them.

Historic Resources

Existing designations:
Primary resources:
Secondary resources:

Issues

Historic District Boundary Lines

Currently, the boundary lines of the local and national Ganesvoort Market Historic District are slightly different, complicating preservation efforts for buildings that fall within one or the other district, or outside of both. Buildings within the National Register district boundaries are technically unprotected from alterations or demolition, but qualify for rehabilitation tax incentives. In contrast, buildings within the local district are protected from inappropriate alterations and demolition, but do not qualify for city funding for rehabilitation. To illustrate, the Liberty Inn sits outside both local and national district boundaries, and therefore lacks protection from alterations and/or demolition for redevelopment.

The High Line

The High Line is poised for transformation into a landscaped public park, and the City has implemented the High Line Transfer Corridor as a way to manage anticipated development directly surrounding the High Line (refer to Appendix A for further explanation). However, there is currently a proposal for a ten-story hotel to be erected on top of the (former) Cudahy Cold Storage Building.

Marine Aviation Pier

Another major redevelopment effort is underway for the Marine Aviation Pier, whose conversion to a commercial shopping center (the “Italian Craft Village,” by the Cipriani Restaurant Group) will bring the building back to life. However, the development will increase the amount of pedestrian traffic in the area and has the potential to draw new developments.

Piers 54 & 56

Pier 54 & 56 are currently abandoned, and their historic value goes unappreciated.

Hudson River Park

The Hudson River Park is an already existing public park in the area, but is effectively severed from 14th Street by the West Side Highway. The High Line park plan should improve access to the Hudson River Park.

Belgian Block

The streets in this area are paved with Belgian Block, a historical street paving material that has all but disappeared from most of New York City. Without adequate protection, there is a possibility that in the future these blocks could be removed in favor of a cheaper paving material.

Use Conversion

High-end retail stores continue to locate in the Meatpacking District; the most recent is the Diane von Furstenberg store, set to occupy the buildings located at 440, 442 and 444 West 14th Street. The proposed design for the store includes a roof addition in the form of a glass pyramid. City Planning intends to maintain the current zoning in order to discourage residential encroachment into the area, based on the assumption that residential use conversions would further compromise the integrity of the area’s industrial character.

Economic Displacement

The closing of Western Beef supermarket, scheduled for summer 2006, is evidence of economic displacement as a result of the area’s conversion to high-end retail.

Summary

The primary preservation challenge in this area will be to manage the impact of use conversions associated with the fashionably-inclined, as it becomes manifest in the historic built fabric. Rising real estate values, as well as the increase in daytime and nighttime use that will accompany the opening of the High Line Park and the Italian Craft Village, represent other significant forces for change in the area.

Surrounded by Greenwich Village to the south, Chelsea to the north, a commercial zone to the east, and the historically industrial Meatpacking District to the west, the section of 14th Street between Seventh and Ninth Avenues is characterized by a diverse assortment of small-scale buildings. Residential buildings, including many mid-nineteenth-century rowhouses, with groundlevel commercial spaces that cater to the local community predominate, while commercial, light-manufacturing, and religious buildings dating from the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century dot the streetscapes. The rich variety of building uses, ages, architectural styles, and materials, combined with the small scale of the structures, help to create a distinct sense of neighborhood.