After a stay of execution, we now hear that the Antiques Garage in Chelsea will be closing at the end of August.
Tipster Mitch points us to the blog Stuff Nobody Cares About, who says, "The dealers who exhibit have been told that Extell will soon begin demolition and this month is to be their last."
In 2007, we visited the Antiques Garage and heard that 2008 would be its final year after the building was sold to developer Extell. The year 2008 came, the economy collapsed, the developer wasn't developing, and the Antiques Garage got a new lease. At the time, a vendor told me, "It's a month-to-month lease, but I expect we'll be here another year or two. The developer can't get a hotel license. There are too many hotels around here as it is."
There are still too many hotels around there, but no matter. Extell is coming. With something big.
As the Observer recently reported, Extell president "Gary Barnett continues to bulldoze his way across the city," unveiling plans for massive new towers and demolishing a chunk of 57th Street that preservationists failed to landmark. That site, "like so many others at the moment," writes the Observer, "had lain fallow through the downturn but has now reawakened."
And soon another glassy giant will arise on 25th Street where now there is something enchanting and rare.
I haven't thought about this place in years. When I moved to the city in the '90s and had no money my boyfriend and I used to hit up this place and the flea market that was on Sixth Avenue on the weekends. They had such great stuff in there.
ReplyDeleteOh, no. I have such fond memories of the Garage - there was no better weekend hunting excursion, to say the least! One of my favorite possessions came from a wonderful dealer there - the entire archive, including photos, reviews, programs, personal correspondence... of a vaudeville family, in turn-of-the-century-New York. Any time I run into a photo from that collection, I think of the Garage... now I'll do so with a sense of bittersweet loss. Here's to a true treasure... I'm so sorry it's gone, too.
ReplyDeleteYup, I am bummed. I'm a dealer there & that place has been a part of my life for 10+ years. It's like my "church" in the sense I see my regulars from week to week. The people are colorful and really from all walks of life... a million times more sophisticated and colorful than other fleamarkets I've set up at around the city... Museum curators, professors, major collectors, set dressers, rock stars, supermodels, drag-queens... One time Dustin Hoffman engaged me for 10+ minutes in a fake fay southern accent going on about how he needs to bring a gift to lady-bird johnson & I didn't even know it was him until after he left, and someone told me. Basically, everyone goes there. I'm glad a place that cool lasted as long as it did and grateful for having met all my pals over the years. I visited one last time last weekend as the next 2 weeks I'll be out of town. I hope they find a new indoor spot & I hope the charm element is still there. Violins please!
ReplyDeleteI just emailed a vendor I keep in touch with and she told me the Garage was originally going to close August 28th but they're on a month to month lease again. For now!
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