Writers and Artists
In addition to the neighborhoodâs rich industrial past, the Meatpacking District also has an important artistic and literary history. The Astor family owned many lots in the neighborhood, and when the enterprising editor Peter Collier married into the family, he built his publishing company at 416-424 West 13th Street. Collierâs Magazine featured leading writers of the day, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather and Upton Sinclair and the printer and publisher produced notable books under its imprint, at one point employing 700 people in the neighborhoods. The building can easily be identified by the sculpted globe and quill pen above the entrance.
Later, the legendary novelist, critic, and activist James Baldwin lived 81 Horatio Street from 1958-1961, which inspired his pioneering novel Another Country. A plaque commemorating Baldwinâs contribution to civil rights and LGBTQ visibility was affixed to the building by Village Preservation.
At 741 Washington Street, Roy Lichtenstein opened his studio in 1988 and worked there until his death in 1997. In 2022, the Lichtenstein Foundation donated the studio to the Whitney Museum of American for its famed Independent Study Program, ensuring that future artists and curators will add to the creative energy of the neighborhood for decades to come.
Sources
Gansevoort Market Historic District: State and National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (2007).
Gansevoort Market Historic District: Designation Report. New York Landmarks Preservation Commission (2003).
The High Line website
Off the Grid. Village Preservation blog.
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