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Uprooting the Flower District

BY FARNOOSH TORABI | SPECIAL TO amNEWYORK

May 8, 2006

The Flower Market Association has been looking to move its shops away from north Chelsea since the late 1990s.

"We are constantly looking for a new home," said Cordelia Persen, the association's executive director. "We're looking for a site in Manhattan with easy truck access and a lot of ground-floor space." She added, though, that few existing sites meet those criteria.

Areas considered for relocation have included College Point in Queens, Hunts Point in the Bronx, the Harlem River Yards and, most recently, the Meatpacking District.

Rather than wait for the district to settle on a new home, Persen said, many flower shops have relocated to towns in Long Island or New Jersey, where rent is more affordable and shop owners who used to commute to Manhattan can work closer to home.