Demolition began yesterday on the vacant Essex Street Market building on the south side of Delancey Street and is continuing today. A short time ago we stopped by the site, the future home of a 24-story mixed-use building — the centerpiece of the big Essex Crossing development project.
Four buildings made up the original Essex Street Market, part of Mayor Fierello LaGuardia’s campaign to rid New York of street vendors in 1940. All of the buildings will eventually be torn down, but the current market at 120 Essex St. will stay open for business throughout construction.
Work crews are starting on the south side of the building. They’re whacking away at the roof and the top part of the facade. The demo project is expected to take 4-6 weeks.
Over the years, we’ve had a few opportunities to snap interior photos of Essex Market Building D. See the sign below that reads, “Orchard Essex Meat Market?” We’re told it was removed some time ago and will be featured in some way when the new Essex Street Market opens on this site a few years from now. It will obviously need some restoration. The neon hasn’t worked in years. This building hasn’t been an active market since the mid-1990s, when the city consolidated operations across the street.
