HERE’S #67 and #69 Gansevoort Street, in what’s popularly called the Meatpacking District for its numerous meat wholesalers who operated mainly in the early mornings. Beginning in the 1990s, area gentrifications pushed most of them north to the Hunt’s Point Market in the Bronx; but like the Fulton Fish Market which also moved to the Bronx, it was here where much of the meat consumed on home tables, facilities and restaurants entered the city, via shipping and augmented by the old West Side Freight Railroad, now known as High Line Park.
In 1940, #67 housed a butter and eggs dealer, John Dupont. NYC actually had a dairy and eggs district until the 1960s centered on Duane Street in Washington Market, demolished around 1980 and replaced by the Independence Plaza housing project.
#69 is a bit more complicated. Today’s #69 is one story only whereas in 1940 it was three stories; either two were lopped off, or it’s a new building. The constant is R & L Restaurant, whose newer 1950s signage is still in place today, as it was in the 1990s up to 2008 when it was home to Florent, which hosted early morning meat wholesalers and club kids as well as afternoon families and tourists with equal aplomb. After Florent was forced out by rising rents, a succession of retail establishments have retained the old green and chrome restaurant signage.
Check out the ForgottenBook (HarperCollins, 2006), as well as Forgotten Queens (Arcadia, 2013). I also have a chapter in the anthology “New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg” (Reaktion, 2007). As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site, which helps in site upkeep and also aids Greater Astoria Historical Society.
11/14/26