Uneasy Street: Gansevoort and Washington
photo: Emily Capo
The new year is off with a thud in the Meatpacking District, with a slew of closings both real and rumored. The downturn began with last year's shuttering of Markt, probably the most populist (and popular) venue in the high-flying neighborhood, which was razed to make way for an Apple Store. This month, the nightclub PM went dark after its liquor license was suspended, and word is it won't reopen at all. There's a similarly uncertain future for the Inn LW12, currently "closed for renovations" and also alleged to be gone for good. Across the street, the Japanese restaurant Ono is set to fold in March (to be replaced by a Maxim magazine–branded steakhouse), while long-reported plans to transpose former hotspot Double Seven to Gansevoort Street have also been scuttled.
It's all part of the roller-coaster ride that is the Meatpacking District, a once gritty industrial zone that became a dining/clubbing destination in 2000 following the opening of Lotus, the "it" club of the millennium. Soon the district was drawing big-name chefs (Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Zak Pellacio, Sue Torres), big-name restaurateurs (Jeffrey Chodorow, Steve Hanson, Keith McNally), a swell hotel (the Gansevoort) and every kind of nightlife imaginable from dive bars to boutique lounges. But even during the boom times, one street seemed jinxed – the stretch of Gansevoort between 9th and Washington, where most of the current closings are clustered. Over the last eight years, this strip has seen one major flameout (Sascha) as well as a number of lesser ones (Chinghalle, Hell, Meet, Rhône, Zitoune).
Still, there's some hope for this unlucky block. Los Dados, a newish Mexican cantina is gamely holding down the fort on its western perimeter, and Merkato 55, Marcus Samuelsson’s new African eatery, is on the way. And when in doubt, there's always Florent, the circa-1985 granddaddy of the boulevard, where you can still get a hamburger and a martini at 5 AM.
– Curt Gathje