For Richard K. Lieberman, growing up in his father's meatpacking plant in the 1950s was what gave the Meatpacking District its name. Now 65, Mr. Lieberman is a historian and director of the La Guardia and Wagner Archives as well as a professor of history at LaGuardia Community College. As reported in The New York Times, he "used to work on High Line, unloading cattle from the Midwest."
Lieberman described the process of unloading cattle from the High Line as a "total ballet" and once the meat came to him in the process he had "50 to 85 pounds of dead calf on [his] shoulder."
Despite luxury hotels, nightclubs and restaurants taking over the Gansevoort Historic District over the past 10 years, Lieberman's father had to deal with bankruptcy issues and the mafia cattle takeover of the '60s, which forced them out of business.
To read more about when the Meatpacking District actually had meatpackers, visit The New York Times.
