Essex Market
Essex Market (formerly known as Essex Street Market) is a food market with independent vendors at the intersection of Essex Street and Delancey Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The market is known for its many local shops, including grocery stores, bakeries, butchers, seafood shops, coffee vendors, cheese shops, and spice shops. There are small restaurants that serve meals in the market, including Shopsin's. The LES Girls Club and Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space are also included in the market. The market opened in 1940, replacing an outdoor market that had operated since the 19th century. During the late 20th century, Essex Street Market began to see a decrease in customers, as supermarkets became increasingly popular. The market was turned over from the city to the individual vendors in 1966 and was taken over by the New York City Economic Development Corporation in 1995. As part of the Essex Crossing redevelopment project that commenced in 2013, Essex Street Market moved to a new location in 2019 and rebranded Essex Market. History Essex Market originates from one of the original thirteen markets of 19th-century New York. An indoor food market for the East Side of Manhattan was proposed as early as 1936. The proposed market was to be located at Essex Street in the Lower East Side, on land owned by the New York City Board of Transportation. The land had previously been occupied by tenement buildings, which had been razed almost a decade prior, when the land was cleared for the construction of the New York City Subway's Sixth Avenue line under Essex Street. At the time, New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia had waged a "war on pushcarts", based on the belief that pushcarts were a "...menace to traffic, health and sanitation," according to a New York Times article from 1938. Consequently, pushcart vendors were encouraged to take their business off the streets into covered, indoor markets. Plans for Essex Street Market were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings in November 1938. The city government put a contract for the market's construction for bid in January 1939. The lowest bid was submitted by the Lieb Construction Company, which proposed to build the market for $386,700. The market was developed at a total cost of $525,000. The city initially planned to open the market in July 1939, but it did not ultimately open until January 9, 1940. The opening of Essex Street Market consisted of a 15-minute ceremony, with a live performance by the Parks Department band. Approximately 3,500 people attended the opening ceremonies. The mayor and his entourage conducted a brief inspection, and then the doors officially flung open to the public. At the time of the market's opening, the Times said that the outdoor market only had "a few sentimental New Yorkers to sigh over its passing". Another section between Rivington and Stanton Streets was opened in June 1948. The original market spanned between 96-144 Essex Street, bordering Broome