Scanning the scene at Delancey and Essex streets this morning, you wouldn’t think the new Essex Street Market is scheduled to open to the public in just seven weeks. Even though it looks like there’s a lot of work left to be done on the facility at 115 Delancey St., the marketing push has begun for the monumental move from the existing 78-year-old market building.
In the New York Times today, Florence Fabricant reported on the “pending relocation.” She noted that all of but one of the vendors will be making the move in the fall (while she did not mention that vendor, it’s Santa Lucia Religious Articles).
The new market is part of the big Essex Crossing project. The developers, Delancey Street Associates, are building the glassy 37,000 square foot facility and turning it back over to the city, which will continue to run the public market. There’s no official opening date, although vendors have been told it will be Oct. 15. The Times reported, however, that 14 new merchants won’t make their debut until January of next year.
The newbies include: Samesa, a contemporary Middle Eastern takeaway counter from sibling chefs Max and Eli Sussman; Josephine’s Feast!, a New York-based producer of artisanal jams and preserves; Saffron, a Fort Green-based florist; Flower Power Herbs and Roots, a branch of the herbal apothecary shop located on East Ninth Street; Chinatown Ice Cream Factory; Essex Shambles, an offshoot of the butcher shop Harlem Shambles; Zerza, a new concept from the owner of the defunct Moroccan spot Zerza on East Sixth Street); Roni-Sue’s Chocolates, returning to the market after losing a stall there two years ago; Sugar Sweet Sunshine, the Rivington Street bakery; and Local Line by Exit9, an outpost of the longtime Avenue A gift shop.
The city has yet to announce two full-scale restaurants that will be part of the market.
The Wall Street Journal also has a piece today on the move. The report references the current, “drab redbrick buildings… with no street-level windows,” and declares that the, “descendants of (the former) pushcart merchants (forced inside by the city in 1940) are about to move back into the limelight.” Reporter Josh Barbanel writes that the move, “reflects the shifting fortunes of the neighborhood,” where more affluent residents are now moving in.
In the article, Anne Saxelby, vendor association president, said her fellow merchants are both worried and excited about the move.
