Apple geeks to invade NYC's Meatpacking District
Apple's 5th Avenue store in midtown
(Credit: Apple)There's a sliver of downtown Manhattan between Chelsea and the West Village known as the Meatpacking District, which you're likely very familiar with if you're a New Yorker or an avid reader of Us Weekly's celebrity-sighting columns. It's kind of a cross between quaint and ostentatious--there are cobblestone streets, and yes, still a few meatpacking businesses around; but these days it's better known for boutique hotels (one of which Crave covered earlier this year), designer shopping, and a wild nightclub scene where a $12 martini is considered cheap. Not exactly a geek's paradise.
However, the NYC Googleplex is a stone's throw away on 9th Avenue, so it's no surprise that the nerds would start stealthily crawling into this party haven. And it looks like Jobs & co. are next: NYC shopping blog Racked is reporting that the address 401 West 14th Street (at 9th Ave.) will be home to the next Apple store. Yeah, we already have one in midtown and one in SoHo...and Racked is also reporting that an Upper West Side location is rumored, too. I guess Apple might be the new Starbucks.
I'm guessing that, considering the late-night nature of the Meatpacking District, this will not be a 24-hour Apple store. Although it might make for some good gossip column items if a boozed-up Sienna Miller goes on a 2 AM shopping spree for iPod gear.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
