Meatpacking District: 6 Things You Shouldn’t Miss

The Meatpacking District is a small neighborhood in Downtown Manhattan of barely 20 blocks. It may be small, but it's packed with attractions for travelers!

There's plenty to see in the Meatpacking District, starting with the High Line Park, a park built on abandoned railway tracks, and Little Island, another one-of-a-kind park built over the Hudson River.

And the new arrivals keep coming. The Meatpacking District gets more interesting every year, and the latest proof is an urban beach in Manhattan: Gansevoort Peninsula, with white sand and a waterfront promenade right in front of the Whitney Museum, with views of One World Trade Center. Sounds good, right?

What to See in the Meatpacking District

It's hard to believe that in the early 20th century the Meatpacking District was an industrial zone full of butcher shops (Gansevoort Market), a handful of which are still around today. Most of those butchers have been replaced by upscale boutiques, hotels, restaurants and bars. Plus the parks and museums I already mentioned.

In the eighties this neighborhood was home to the mobs that controlled Manhattan's sex trade (mostly drag and S&M clubs) and it was also a drug distribution hub, something you'll see in plenty of movies from that era. Not anymore, though. Today it's a safe neighborhood with tons to do.

Drawn by the Meatpacking District's gritty aura, the creative world took over the neighborhood: in the nineties they turned old slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants into studios, workshops, boutiques, restaurants and bars, making it what it is today.

1. High Line Park: a park on an old railway

The neighborhood's star attraction is the High Line Park, an inventive park built on a former elevated rail line. The High Line begins at Gansevoort Street, runs through Chelsea and ends in the new Hudson Yards neighborhood.

It's a must-see, and once you walk it you'll understand why. Its opening brought a lot of tourism to the area, which used to be more of a hipster New Yorker secret, and with it a fresh wave of hotels, shops and chef-driven restaurants.

Walking the High Line gives you wonderful views of the Manhattan neighborhoods and landmarks it passes through, and the Empire State looks spectacular off in the distance.

2. Little Island: a park over the Hudson River

The Meatpacking District is also home to one of the new New York attractions everyone is talking about: Little Island, a floating park over the Hudson River.

It's really a park within a park, since it's part of Hudson River Park, connected by a walkway over the river.

This public park rests on enormous flower-shaped concrete pilings, designed by the same English architect behind The Vessel at Hudson Yards, the climbable sculpture of staircases that's another one of the new New York attractions worth seeing, and also reachable from the Meatpacking District.

Read all the details on visiting Little Island so you can plan properly.

3. Visit the Whitney Museum

In 2015 the Meatpacking District cemented its status as a major cultural hub in New York: the Whitney Museum, devoted to American art, moved to the neighborhood (99 Gansevoort St).

4. Gansevoort Peninsula: Manhattan's New Beach

The Meatpacking District recently gained another highly original attraction: an urban beach in Manhattan (check out the other city beaches in New York), Gansevoort Peninsula.

Before you pull on your swimsuit, though, know that swimming isn't allowed here. The Hudson River is still polluted and has dangerous currents.

You can absolutely sunbathe on white sand brought in from Cape May, New Jersey. The Meatpacking District's beach also has a waterfront promenade, picnic areas and sports facilities.

This new New York beach sits in Hudson River Park, between Gansevoort and Little West 12th streets, across from the Whitney Museum of American Art (14 Street subway station, A, C, E, L lines).

5. Nightlife in the Meatpacking District

After dark, nightlife takes over the streets. Night owls come from all over New York to the Meatpacking District for its clubs, DJs, rock shows, bars and edgy restaurants like Spice Market, making the Meatpacking District a 24-hour neighborhood.

Keep in mind that the door staff at clubs around here tend to be very picky, so good luck.

6. Shop at the Apple Store

A tip for Mac lovers: there's an Apple Store at Ninth Avenue and West 14th Street. If you're planning to buy something, it's definitely a calmer option than the famous, mobbed Apple Store on Fifth Avenue.

Where to Stay in the Meatpacking District

It's worth considering the Meatpacking District as a place to stay and splurging on a boutique hotel like the Standard Hotel, which you'll walk right under on the High Line.

Another reason to stay at the Standard Hotel: you get prime aerial views of Little Island 🙂

Another option is the Hotel Gansevoort, with its famous rooftop lounge looking out over much of the city.

Architecture in the Meatpacking District

What makes it interesting is that even though the district's transformation has been night and day (from butcher shops to the mob, from the mob and the sex trade to design, luxury and one-of-a-kind parks), it still keeps its industrial look and its cobblestone streets. That contrast is its defining feature.

New Yorkers have pulled this off well. The city reinvents itself constantly and shifts with every wave of immigrants, yet here the character of each neighborhood has been respected.

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Address

The Meatpacking District sits between West 14th Street to the north and Gansevoort Street to the south, and from the Hudson River on the west to Hudson Street on the east

How to get there

Subway lines A, C, E. 14th St station
Subway line L. 8th Ave station