My trip to the Chelsea Market with my classmates at NYU
The front of the Chelsea Market at 75 9th Avenue is where we started our tour.
Chelsea Market
https://www.chelseamarket.com/
My review on TripAdvisor:
Little Island
My review on TripAdvisor:
Before the start of the school year, NYU sponsors a series of events, open houses and walking tours for the students to get to know the campus and each other better. Since I am now in my second year at the college, I know the campus quite well and don’t have to take the traditional tours.
One of the options we had was a tour of the Chelsea Market over on Nineth Avenue and then of Little Island, this new innovative park just off the Meat Packing District at Pier 55. It was a beautiful sunny day when we started the walk from the SPS Building on 12th Avenue.
All the student Undergraduate and Graduate tour guides were preparing for tours all over campus and were chatting when I got there. I ran into Milton, a sophomore undergraduate, who had led the tour last September to Koreatown. So we chatted for a bit about how fast time has gone. That tour was almost a year ago to the day.
I also ran into one of my undergraduate classmates from my Paris class and we chatted for a bit while I showed her the blog, I did on her assigned tour that she and her partners had created. She seemed impressed. Then our tour guides were ready, and it was off and running to Chelsea Market for a tour of the facility and then lunch outside on the picnic benches.
The displays inside the market are very creative.
I have been to the Chelsea Market many times since its opening back in the 1990’s but I had not been in it for since COVID so there were a lot of new restaurants and stores that I had not visited. The place was really bustling for an early September afternoon.
Inside the Chelsea Market.
The waterfall is the one thing I remember from my first trip here in 2002.
We walked through the market with the tour guides giving us a small history of the facility that it had once been the Nabisco Cookie factory. It had sat abandoned for a long time and then they created this innovative market concept with offices, restaurants and shops as the Chelsea neighborhood started to improve in the early 1990’s. Now it is the catalyst for both Chelsea and the Meat Packing District for shopping, entertainment and work. After the quick tour, it was off to find a place to buy lunch.
The crowds at the Chelsea Market
The beautiful white light canopy inside the Chelsea Market.
The festival activity of the Chelsea Market.
Like the rest of the City, the restaurants in the Chelsea Market have gotten really expensive. A hamburger, sandwich and pizza are marked up much higher here than they are outside the building. I was going to grab something outside but decided to look around the restaurants around the back of the market and found Sarabeth’s Kitchen Bakery.
Sarabeth’s Kitchen Bakery at 75 9th Avenue in the Chelsea Market
https://www.sarabeth.com/Sarabeths-Bakery_ep_62.html
My review on TripAdvisor:
The selection inside the bakery that day.
Eyeing the selection of sandwiches in the case.
I had eaten up in her Madison Avenue restaurant years ago before I moved to California and remembered how I loved the food. I was looking at the grilled cheese but knew we had limited time until we left for Little Island and decided on the Tuna Salad sandwich that looked really good. It tasted as good as it looked.
The Tuna Salad sandwich on fresh sourdough bread at Sarabeth’s Bakery
The Tuna Salad sandwich here is excellent!
We sat outside on the picnic tables right outside the building which I did not remember from past trips to the Chelsea Market. I guess this was a result of COVID as well when we had to go to outdoor dining. With the weather hovering just over 80 degrees and it being sunny and blue skies there is nothing like dining outdoors. We had a great time over lunch talking and getting to know one another.
The seating outside the Chelsea Market.
After lunch was over, we took a quick walk through the Meat Packing District which in the middle of the afternoon was hopping with activity. People were out walking their dogs and eating in the outdoor cafes and listening to music from street musicians who were playing in the park. I had not seen this much activity during the afternoon on a weekday. I thought it was a Saturday.
People were out and about in the Meat Packing District that afternoon.
Then we got to Little Island, a very innovative new park that had been created and opened during COVID. The whole park is done in modules that are landscaped and created in tiers. I had only passed the park and never walked in, so it was an excuse to spend time to walk the paths and enjoy the sunny day.
Little Island Park at Pier 55.
Little Island Park from the pier.
It is really an interesting park as you walk the paths by tiers and there is a large lawn to relax on and enjoy the sunshine, a concert shell for musical events and plays (we just missed a group performing) and paths throughout the park that take you through landscaped woods and beautiful gardens.
The landscaped lawn that we relaxed on that afternoon.
The concert shell for performances.
It was a really great tour of the park. We walked through the gardens and took in the views of the landscape. The views of Jersey City and Lower Manhattan was amazing. The waterfront views were amazing.
The views of the module gardens.
The garden views from the top of the gardens.
The view from the top of the garden.
The views of Lower Manhattan that afternoon from Little Island.
The views of Downtown Jersey City.
The views around the Hudson River were just breathtaking. On a clear, sunny day made it even better.
Before we left Little Island, we took a group shot to remember this wonderful afternoon and headed back to campus. Some of the students went on other tours and others were going to get together with their classmates. I walked back to Chelsea Market and took another look around and then listened to the band in the park in the Meat Packing District. We all had a great time!
Our NYU group shot on the tour.
Places to Eat:
Sarabeth’s Bakery
75 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
(212) 989-2424
https://www.sarabeth.com/Sarabeths-Bakery_ep_62.html
Open: Sunday 9:00am-7:00pm/Monday-Saturday 8:00am-8:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
Places to Visit:
Chelsea Market
75 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
(212)652-2111
https://www.chelseamarket.com/
Open: Sunday-Saturday 8:00am-9:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
Little Island
Pier 55 at 13th Street
New York, NY 10011
Open: Sunday-Saturday 6:00am-11:00pm
My review on TripAdvisor:
mywalkinmanhattan 