
Inside the Chelsea Market
'Chelsea Market' is an enclosed, urban
food court and shopping mall built within the former
Nabisco factory complex where the
Oreo cookie was invented and produced. The 22-building complex fills two entire blocks bounded by 9th and 11th Avenues and 15th to 16th Street. In addition to the retail concourse in the structure east of 10th Avenue, it also provides standard office space for tenants, including media and broadcasting companies such as
Oxygen Network,
Food Network and the local New York City cable station
NY1.
Retail facilities were introduced into the building by connecting the original back lots of individual buildings to a central, ground-level concourse with entries at 9th and 10th Avenues (completed in April 1997). Anchor stores include the ''Manhattan Fruit Market'', ''202'' by
Nicole Farhi, ''Amy's Bread'', and a restaurant, called ''Buddakan.'' There is also the ''Fat Witch Bakery'', ''Ruth's Bakery'', ''Eleni's Bakery'', ''The Lobster Place'', ''Frank's Meat'', and ''Chelsea Thai''.
In January 2006 on the 10th Avenue side, ''Morimoto'', owned by Food Network "Iron Chef"
Masaharu Morimoto and designed by
Tadao Ando opened. Opposite ''Morimoto'' across 10th Avenue, also in the Chelsea Market complex is ''Del Posto'', an Italian restaurant owned by fellow "Iron Chef",
Mario Batali. The
Food Network films its shows
Iron Chef America and
Emeril Live in the Chelsea Market.
Above Chelsea Market, passing through the building on the 10th Avenue side, a new urban landscape is in the process of development called the
High Line. This abandoned, elevated railroad track will be converted to an
urban oasis or
greenway with a continuous route between the
Javits Convention Center and the trendy
Meatpacking District in the
West Village.
The developers of Chelsea Market have encouraged a symbiotic relationship among their tenants with the vendors supplying the restaurateurs with fresh ingredients, such as seafood, vegetables, fruit and meats. The presence of television companies in the same building also brings media attention to the site and the businesses that are found there. The site also allows businesses to combine their manufacturing and retail assets under one roof.
External links
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Chelsea Market - Official website
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Meatpacking district - Links to stores and clubs in the neighborhood