Did you guys know there’s an hourly-rate hotel on 10th Avenue & 14th Street?

I was walking with a friend around Chelsea a few weeks ago, and she pointed out to me a squat little brick building on the west side of 10th Avenue and 14th Street that seemed extremely out of place. It is called the Liberty Inn, and I’ll let a New York Times article from 2011 take it away:

Inside the lobby, the concierge sits behind a pane of bulletproof glass. A vending machine displays boxes of condoms and bottles of lubricant beside packs of Oreos and Skittles. Every so often, luggageless couples inquire about a room.

This is the Liberty Inn, the last of the meatpacking district’s hourly-rate hotels; in 2008, New York magazine called it “unabashedly the place to go for some afternoon delight.” Robert Boyd, who has managed the establishment since 1977, prefers the term “romance hotel.”

“We take in your everyday business and travel clientele,” he said. “But we focus on couples looking for a romantic moment, if you will.”

Liberty Inn Focuses on Romantic Moments, by the Hour - The New York Times (nytimes.com). At first I was surprised that a place like this still exists around here. But at second I wasn’t the least bit surprised—when it comes right down to it, humans are gonna human. And you might as well make it convenient for them, right along the West Side Highway.