We moved our design offices and here’s a tour of our Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan that is split among wholesalers, the remnants of the old Flower District and an emerging construction boom sprinkled with young hipster spots like Sweet Green and the
Every New York City neighborhood seems to have it’s own pulse. Our offices are now located on 28th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue. Broadway bisects the block which is split among wholesalers, the remants of the old Flower District and an emerging construction boom sprinkled with young hipster spots like Sweet Green and the nearby Millenial hangout at the Ace Hotel. Here are a few images of the neighborhood that have caught my eye.
Tin Pan Alley
It took a few weeks before I realized that we work in Tin Pan Alley! A street vendor parks over this plaque in the mornings, and I only see this plaque on my walk home. From 1880 to 1953 this was the headquarters for American music publishing. According to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, “In the late 19th century, New York had become the epicenter of songwriting and music publishing, and publishers converged on the block of West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. There are several stories about how the block got its name. One that is often repeated tells of a reporter for the New York Herald who was hired to write about the new business of sheet music publishing in the city. As he walked down 28th Street toward the publishing offices, he heard the dissonant chords and strings of competing pianos through the open windows. The sound, he remarked, sounded like a bunch of tin pans clanging.” The ragtime music of Scott Joplin, the early blues of W.C. Handy, new recordings by jazz great Louie Armstrong in the 1920s and the Big Band sound of the 1930s and 40s all emerged from Tin Pan Alley.
The Flower District
There are still quite a few floral wholesalers along 28th Street, and the sidewalks are full of today’s orders on the west side of 6th Avenue. See this ScoutingNY story for great photos and a walking tour essay. For me the connection to the Flower District is personal. As a teenager I worked for my grandfather Walter Walsh and my Uncle Dick Walsh at Walsh Flowers in Woonsocket, RI. I’d be in the basement making boxwood Christmas trees and soaking the “Oasis” foam bricks like the ones shown in this photo for “Aquafoam.” Years later on a Flower District excursion to New York, Uncle Dick would join me (and my new girlfriend, Shelley) for dinner at Harvey’s Chelsea bistro and report back to the family that he just met the new daughter-in-law.
Water Towers
Right outside our office windows we have this great view of New York City’s blend of old classic buildings mixed in with new constructions. Just as we moved in, a new water tower was being built. It was completed within a couple of hours. We made a bunch of jokes about how none of our arguments could hold water, but clearly this tower could.
Rosenwach Tank is the only company left in NYC making wooden water towers. According to Business Insider, the wooden water tanks were vital in the early twentieth century, as the city grew skyward. They use wood because just three inches of wood insulate the tank as well as 24 inches of concrete would. The city's older buildings get their water supply, and feed their fire sprinklers from the water tanks. “We’re in a dying business,” Andrew Rosenwach told Business Insider. His great-grandfather started the company. “When I was looking at joining, my father told me ‘If you join the family business and they stop putting tanks up, you’ll have enough business taking the tanks down.’”
Patterns and Mosaics
When I design logos I love to include patterns that I see in the streets and I am quite inspired by the mosaics in the 28th Street subway stations. Here’s a mosaic of 28th Street mosaics. To see the hidden gems in the Flower District you have to stop and smell the roses.
Special thanks to Jim Keller for his moving line-art and to Christie Grotheim for her GIF animation that makes it move.
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