2. By 1926, over 57 open-air pushcart markets existed in the Lower East Side

60% of all pushcart peddlers were concentrated below 14th Street and east of Broadway, with over 6,000 independent vendors peddling their wares. Over on Orchard Street, just two blocks away from Essex Street Market, the largest market of its time existed with 800-plus peddlers. Vendors paid $1 per week to sell everything from fresh fruit and vegetables, pots and pans, nuts and cheese, and much more. If you lived in this neighborhood, you bought nearly all your household items from pushcarts.