Meatpacking District

Concentrated in a few blocks of what is essentially an extension of the West Village, between the Hudson River and 9th Avenue, from Little West 12th Street to about West 17th Street, the Meatpacking District used to be the center of New York City's wholesale meat industry. There are few meat markets left in this now rather quaint cobblestone area, but it's definitely a figurative meat market at night, when the city's most fashionable denizens frequent the equally trendy restaurants and bars here. The area is also home to some of the city's swankiest retailers, including high-profile fashion designers and labels like Christian Louboutin, Diane von Furstenberg, and Tory Burch. The Whitney Museum of American Art is also here.