31 / 70
T
he historic Essex Street Market was
created in the 1930s by Mayor Fiorello La
Guardia as a place for street vendors to sell
their wares on the Lower East Side. The
explosion of growth in the area over the past
few years coupled with strong millennial
demographics have helped to transform this
into one of the city's premier food hall sites
with 23 independent merchants (19 food
related) and a focus on artisanal and
authentic foods.
Today the Essex Street Market comprises
roughly 15,000 sf of enclosed food hall space
that is owned and operated by the New York
Economic Development Corporation which
operates this project as a startup incubator for
small business. Merchants range from growers
(Luna Brothers Fruit Plaza, Essex Farm Fruits
and Vegetables) to artisanal vendors
(chocolatiers Boubouki and Roni-Sue’s
Chocolates, New Star Fish Market, Formaggio
Essex, Saxelby Cheesemongers, Nordic
Preserves Fish & Wildlife) to prepared food
concepts (bakeries Pain D’Avignon and
Davidovich, Japanese deli Ni, Peasant Stock,
Tra La La Juice Bar), to service providers
(Aminova’s Barbershop) and retailers (La
Tiendita/Lower East Side Girls Club, Puerto
Rico Importing Company).
Essex Street Market
31
Food Halls of America 2016