The Chelsea neighborhood in New York is a gem to visit to see how this area has changed over the years. Here is the first headquarters of Magnolia Bakery, Carrie's home from Sex and the City, the High Line and much more.
Colson Whitehead writes: "You start building your own private New York the first time you see it"
Walk for Chelsea shows, in my opinion, one of the faces of New York more real. Few tourists, lots of ordinary people who run to work early in the morning. Girls who change their shoes in front of large windows, leave the ballet flats for high heels, men who try to loosen buttons or tie knots imposed by the office. Or simply people queuing in front of a shop because even here it is a sales period, or the ladies who go around with their shopping bags.
The large cast iron stairs, the neo-classical and ancient buildings have the effect of the magnet, you cannot take your eyes and objectives away from them. So you look for the most characteristic corners, the hidden details or the less banal ones and you store pleasant sensations, far from the hectic ones of the big roads and construction sites. Here is the new New York. That is, those districts once considered suburbs in which they only worked and which now, after a major redevelopment, have become places of worship for all lovers of shopping and TV series.
Ancient places of furtive encounters between homosexuals and the warehouses where meat was packed have become something else. The signs of the previous lives of these places are however visible and magnificent. It must be said that seeing the transformation of an old decadent warehouse, a former biscuit factory to be precise, in Chelsea Market it was a great discovery. Each shop showcases the various crafts, the workshops in fact are for everyone to see. From pastry to baker, to fishmonger to fruit and vegetables. And then there are restaurants and shops of all kinds, even an import all based on Made in Italy food products.
The most sought after is fresh fish, especially the Maine lobsters of different sizes. It is an extremely crowded place so to eat you have to adapt and be satisfied with a standing place or shared tables. But it is also this aspect that makes it so special!
Same thing was done for the butchers of Meatpaking become trendy boutiques and clubs. But no skyscrapers, no mega-galactic stores, no glitter. Beautiful area to see, but above all to live, relaxed, not chaotic, very human.
Even more has been done to transform Highline. That is the old railway disused, it has become a raised park with large gardens that mix with tracks and bottlenecks.
New Yorkers have found a clever way to recover abandoned structures and fill them with benches and loungers for sunbathing and reading, or where to cool off with cool running water floors.
All the major constructions in Manhattan are incredibly well visible when walking, a 10 meters from the ground, among the gardens, the sculptures, and the open-air exhibitions that accompany this particular walk. Empire, Chrysler, Statue of Liberty, Freedom Tower emerge among the different views. The route passes through dilapidated and occupied buildings and other brand new ones.
And here and there, scattered around, i set of Sex and the city: the Carrie's house in Perry street, la Magnola Bakery with her caramel cupcakes and Pastis the restaurant where Carrie herself dines, in the sixth series, with the Russian before leaving for Paris.
Leaving the narrow alleys and the brownstones of dark stone with the stairs in front was not easy due to the peace and tranquility they convey.
Side notes: New Yorkers are kind and good people. They have the welcoming gene that we are losing.
Whether it's the taxi driver or the saleswoman, there is always someone who wishes you good morning or tells you enjoy. The waiters are always available for explanations and on the street or in the skyscrapers you always meet someone ready to smile. Even the girl who runs fast to work and with whom you "collide" near the entrance to the Chrysler Building. Or the Chinese guy who in his taxi as soon as he realizes that you are Italian from Milan asks you which football team you support.
Every kind of diversity is welcomed and becomes an integral part of the fabric of the city. Gays and lesbians behave like any other couple. Hispanics, Italians, Afro Americans and a thousand other peoples can find integration without problems.
New York it is a city where it is easy to feel that you have new opportunities that are not easy to seize and that are truly reachable by everyone is quite another matter.
