Chelsea Now

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YOUR WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CHELSEA, HUDSON YARDS & HELL’S KITCHEN

Memories in Store as Tekserve Closes Doors

Photo by Alex Ellefson

A ¼ scale replica statue of Futura, from the 1927 motion picture “Metropolis” alongside a 1984 Apple llc. Both are up for bid as Tekserve closes its Chelsea retail store.

BY ALEX ELLEFSON Most places just have a clearance sale when they go out of business. But Tekserve, the quirky Apple repair shop that has been part of the fabric of Chelsea for almost three decades, will offload a trove of antique treasures after its retail store closes next week. TEKSERVE continued on p. 3

ELECTION SELECTION

Theater for the New City’s annual Street Theater production tours the five boroughs through Sept. 18. See page 17.

Photo by Yannic Rack

Sam Rosenberg started working in the Flower District in when he was still a teenager, like his father did before him.

UNEASY ARRANGEMENT Change Spreads Like Kudzu Through Flower District

BY YANNIC RACK Among all the captivating corners of the city, one block of Chelsea has stood out for more than a century. Those who are lucky enough to trace their morning commute along W. 28th St. between Sixth and Seventh Aves. — the center of the neighborhood’s Flower District — are treated to a daily cornucopia of roses, carnations, orchids, and peonies that line the sidewalks there, along with palm trees 10 feet tall and greenery of all shapes and sizes. But when Sam Rosenberg, who owns a small retail florist around the corner on Sixth Ave., walks down the street, he sees something else entirely — or doesn’t see it anymore, to be exact. Many of the original wholesalers, who congregated in the area during the market’s heyday in the mid-20th century, are now gone — save for a few holdouts like Superior Florist (828 Sixth Ave.), which is still kept alive by three generations of Rosenberg’s family.

© CHELSEA NOW 2016 | NYC COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

“When I started it was so different, you can’t imagine,” recalled the 78-year-old, taking a break from arranging blossoms and tying ribbons in his shop. The small space is still fitted with old-style aluminum countertops, and blackand-white pictures of the neighborhood from the 1930s line the walls. When Sam’s father Louis, an immigrant from Poland, first opened the business a few doors down, the surrounding blocks were home to over five dozen flower wholesalers and retail florists. More than 80 years later, only around 20 remain, including stores specializing in potted plants, silk flowers, and accessories. “It was all flowers,” said Sam’s son, Steven. “Where the hotel is now, all flowers. Where the McDonald’s is, all flowFLOWERS continued on p. 2 VOLUME 08, ISSUE 32 | AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016


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