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Manhattan |
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With
Congestion Getting Worse, Manhattan's Flower Market Considers
Move
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August 02, 2005
The scent of
flowers is heavenly on Manhattan's West 28th street – but
if you're trying to get in and out of the area, the bouquet
is not as sweet. Roger Clark filed this report on the state
of the neighborhood.
West 28th Street in Manhattan is crammed with flowers of
all types, but it’s the car and truck traffic that concerns
Flower District business owners.
“It's four cars wide here and you can't find a parking space
for anything,” said one of them, Sean Psomas.
It’s gotten so bad that after 120 years, the Flower District
is looking for another place to grow. Increased residential
development has lead to higher rents, more congestion and
less parking for the flower industry.
Gary Page, President of the Flower District Association,
said, “You just cannot squeeze a wholesale business into
this area anymore, so we have to leave.”
The association has been searching for a new location for
its member businesses since 1998. They thought they had
the place in the Gansevoort Meatpacking District, but that
fell through. So the search continues.
Business owners say the ideal location would be in Manhattan,
but it will be hard to find what they are looking for: somewhere
that has plenty of space on the street level for shops,
lots of parking, and access to front and back of the building.
And it all needs to come at the right price.
“It would be easy to find if you're a couple hundred miles
outside Manhattan," said Jeff Sarafini of Fischer and Page.
"But if you're inside Manhattan, that kind of a floor plan
is hard to find.”
Customers want the flower shops to stay, even if they understand
why the business owners want to move.
Bridget Vizoso from the Designers Coop said, “Just as long
as it doesn't move to an outer borough, then I think it
would be okay.”
Delivery driver Reggie Alonge said he’s happy with the market
on 28th Street, but he wouldn't mind moving if it meant
fewer parking tickets and headaches.
“If they're moving to somewhere very close by, where we
can always have free parking, then that would be better,”
he said.
–Roger Clark
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