A Curbed reader emails from the wilds of West Chelsea: "I was surprised to discover that the large exxon station (plus subway and dunkin' donuts) at the sw corner of 10th ave and 23rd street apparently closed without notice while you were away last week. does anyone know if this site has been sold for development and if so, are there plans for what's to come?" Before we could pick up the phone ourselves, an intrepid Curbed correspondent reported in:
I was shocked to find the 24-hour Exxon/Dunkin Donuts/Subway/mini-mart on the SW corner of 23rd and 10th closed for good this past Friday. Fixtures, pumps, Cinammon Cake Munchkins - everything gone. Before locking up, however, the door to the men's room was kindly left wide open (above right), inviting a steady stream of taxi drivers to pull in and "unload" their tanks throughout the long holiday weekend. Word is a 7-story luxury condo will be built here. After the jump, our correspondent continues her crie de coeur for what some saw as the unlikely heart of a fast-changing neighborhood. UPDATE: A trusted Curbed source emails, "Boymelgreen, the Brooklyn developers who community activists love to hate, has a 49 year lease on the property at 10th and 23rd. Don't think you could build condos with only a 49 year lease, so would expect it to be a rental. Seven stories sounds about right though."
Call me one pitiful over-privileged white lady but this closing creates true hardship for the already amenity deprived residents of W. 23rd between 10th & 11th - the Marais, Tate, and the the soon-to-open 555W23, Vesta 24, and High Line 519. Even London Terrace. Sadly, many of us have relied this gas station as our neighbothood deli. A refuge of real life comforts - Coffee Coolatas, newspapers, late night Haagen-Dazs pints, and Mega Millions lottery tix - in a sea of gallery goons and Toscoquattro macassar ebony vanities. It was also the surest place to find a free cab during rush hour. Now it's either a run over to the deli beneath the dodgy Chelsea Inn (next door to Privilege Gentlemens Cabaret) (photo 3, note body on ground)or a long shlep over to the far reaches of 9th Ave. I hear the
gas station on 24th and 10th is closing this month as well.