7. The Lowline, which plans to build the world’s first underground park, held its first-ever public prototype in an old Essex Street Market building

When thousands of people visited the Lowline Lab between 2015-2017, they might not have realized that they were standing in an old market building. Lowline’s team utilized this vacant space at 140 Essex Street, which used to be part of Essex Street Market, to showcase their solar technology.

In utilizing this space, Lowline was able to study plant life as it would exist in the future Lowline, proposed to be built in an abandoned trolley terminal below Essex Street Market.