Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Chelsea Mobil

The Chelsea Mobil gas station, marked for destruction back in 2008 and finally shuttered at the end of 2011, has recently been wrapped in fencing and is now being demolished.



Real Estate Equities bought the spot beneath the High Line and plans to turn it into 17,000 square feet of luxury retail. "This is going to complete the street here," said the seller to The Real Deal. "This will have a huge impact on the neighborhood.



Under the High Line, sparks fly as demolition workers tear apart the snack shop and car wash. Gasoline Alley loses ground as the High Line opens up yet another spot for high-end shoppers.



Previously:
Chelsea Mobil: Alive
Chelsea Mobil: Dead

13 comments:

JAZ said...

14th & 10th is no place for a gas station. Do you really think people want the smell of gasoline on their $400 pair of strategically ripped jeans as they head to the rooftop party with the celebrity guest DJ? I mean, with an attitude like that, it's almost like you DON'T want Marc Jacobs to come to the corner.

Frankly I'm shocked the Liberty Inn is still alive & kicking.

Jeremiah Moss said...

JAZ, you're so right about the Liberty and i believe we'll see it vanish in the next two years, due to this change from Mobil Gas to high-end retail right on this corner.

the guy quoted in the piece is right--this move will pull luxury all the way to 10th Ave, where now are still bits and pieces of the old Meatpacking neighborhood.

this demolition is a death knell. it's all dominoes.

EV Grieve said...

How soon before the High Line stretches into Westchester?

Grand St. said...

Tried to refill a rental at the Lukoil on 24th and 10th on Monday morning and the entrances were roped off.
Could have been a temporary situation, but considering the trend....

esquared™ said...

Westchester, the Hamptons, and Beverly Hills are stretching into the city.

The Highline is the boardwalk of NYC. I recently walked from the Hudson Yards to the Highline and the contrast between the two is daunting, much like in Atlantic City and the the stark contrast between the casinos/boardwalk and the surrounding impoverished working-class neighborhoods. I guess the point is people who would go to and love the Highline see NYC in rose-coloured glasses, thus eliminating anything that would remind them of reality, and so that they keep living in a world of their own.

In other comment...speaking of dominoes, I have this recurring vivid dream that those new buildings/condos from Meat Packing district to West SoHo topple each other because of an earthquake. Another sign of the impending apocalypse?

Anonymous said...

Next week.

Anonymous said...

fuck this!

Anonymous said...

More luxury retail...how disgusting.

Anonymous said...

as long as they don't take over tortilla flats

JAZ said...

And somewhere, Novac Noury is not surprised.

Anonymous said...

I know this sounds like a broken record, but this gas station was one of the few places remaining on 10th Ave where working class and neighborhood folk could get cheap coffee/cigarettes/sandwiches, etc. Appropriately next door the the Blue Bottle schmohawk coffee shop is now serving 4 dollar drip available. This city has the interests of tourists and part-time residents more in mind then the people who actually make it run. At the very least they should use the revenue/taxes to help create lower income housing for the have-nots.
PS I still miss the Hog Pit.

Anonymous said...

I always liked that station, how it was hiding under the elevated tracks and yet full of activity with all the cabbies and commuters- I also liked having a place to GET GAS! You know a living city is supposed to have things like gas stations, laundries, cobblers etc. If it is all luxury shops then it is a dead place, a museum, a Disneyland.

JAZ said...

Much like what is going on down on 10th at 14th street, where the shutting down of Mobil will lead to the destruction of the rest of Meatpacking (Liberty Inn, the meatpackers still left off 10th Ave., the diner), once Lukoil is officially gone, Kamco is gonna closely follow. It's a Marc Jacobs, cupcake city now, and the rest of us regular, non A-Listers and non-Tourists are just in the way - like an inconveniently placed speedbump in the process of being paved over.