There are just a few of the original meat butchers operating in the Meatpacking district. Each of these meat companies tries to specialize in different areas in meat, to avoid competition with one another. Among the very few still around, is Weischel Beef. This meat company has been around since 1954, and has been owned by the same owner since the 1980’s. Weischel beef takes large pieces of beef , and divides it into smaller cuts for restaurants, hotels and supermarkets. Weischel Beef just recently moved to there new location on 826 Washington St. There original location was converted into high- end retail space.
The High Line is among some of sites of the Meatpacking district that are being preserved. The High line opened to trains in 1934. Its purpose was to carry goods to and from the city’s largest industrial district. Many of the cargo carried on these trains were meat and produce going into and out the Meatpacking District. With the increase use of trucks in the 1980’s the High line stopped operating in 1980. People began calling for the High line’s demolition so the land can be used for something else. In 1999 the Friends of the High Line is founded by Joshua Davis. Its fundamental purpose is to preserve the High Line and reuse it as public open space. In 2005, the city became the owners of the High Line. From 2002 – to 2014 the High line has been preserved as well as updated for recreational use. The entire High line structure has been successfully preserved.
The Meatpacking district hit its low point from the mid 1970’s through the 1980’s. The district began to move away from its production of meat, and a new wave of people came into the district.With the declining need for these large meat producers, many of the meat business began to close, there buildings abandoned. Buildings of these old time butchers were being vandalized and in some cases used for illegal activities. Drugs and prostitution was a common theme of the district during this time. There would be a hookers and drug dealers on many of the streets of the district. Furthermore, many of the first underground gay bars of the city first opened up in the Meatpacking district.The people that used to come to this place for meat, or just to see its historical value, stopped coming.The increase epidemic of AIDS as well as rampant crime in the area forced police and city officials to start enforcing policies to shut down these illegal and immoral operations. Fortunately the city officials were able to successfully shut down these operations. Starting in the 1990’s the Meatpacking district began to take on its brand that it is today, one of the hippest, nicest and trendiest areas in the city.
The 80’s Currently