On April 14, the last remaining station on Manhattan's erstwhile 'Gasoline Alley' shuttered to make way for a glassy office building. The New York Times used the occasion to take stock of the city's diminishing supply of gas stations, and it is as depressing as it sounds. The Times found that there 50 gas stations open to the public in Manhattan. Over the past eight years, 30 have disappeared, and the Wall Street Journal pointed out that there were just 12 below 96th Street. Since that was reported, several have closed. Here are some of the developments rising on former gas station sites in Manhattan:
↑ The most recent to shutter, the BP station site at 300 Lafayette Street will give rise to a glass and steel office building designed by COOKFOX.
↑ On the northwest corner of Central Park, the luxe condo development Circa is rising on the former site of a BP gas stations. Sales in the building launched in the beginning of April from $1.1 million.
↑ In 2014, word spread that a Mobil station on the corner of East Houston and Avenue C was being demolished for a new residential building that would bring 46 apartments to the site.
↑ The gas station at the corner of East First Street and Second Avenue was demolished in November to make way for a 10-story, 32-apartment building.
Gas stations aren't the only car-centric businesses that are disappearing throughout the city. Car washes and parking garages are also being snatched up by developers at a rapid clip. All service-oriented businesses in New York City are in danger as the value of their land eclipses their profits. Let's hope the city's disappearing grocery stores can hold on a little longer.
- With Gas Station’s Closing, a Fuel Desert Expands in Manhattan [NYT]
- Soho Gas Station Closure Could Hurt Downtown in Emergencies [Curbed]
- Well-Known Soho Gas Station Will Close This April [Curbed]
- As Beloved Soho Bar Closes, Glassy Office Building May Move Forward [Curbed]
- Mapping the Development Boom Displacing New York's Cars [Curbed]
- Map: The City's Disappearing Grocery Stores [Curbed NY]
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