Markets

THE ESSEX STREET MARKET

Essex Street Market specializes in a wide variety of culinary products including gourmet cheeses, premium cuts of meat, fresh fish and general grocery items. It is a public market made up of many smaller merchants who pride themselves on getting to know their customers.

Essex Street Market began in 1940 as part an effort by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia to find a new place for street merchants to do business. At the time, pushcarts and vendors crowded the city streets, making it difficult for police and fire vehicles to easily pass. To ease congestion, Mayor LaGuardia created the Essex Street Market and several other indoor retail markets throughout the city.

In the early years, the Lower East Side’s Jewish and Italian immigrants, who served as both the merchants and the customers, shaped Essex Street Market’s identity.

Description: Indoor markets with rows of vendors specializing in meat, fish, cheese, produce & specialty foods.