Manhattan’s South Street Seaport Historic District is a historical and architectural treasure trove. In fact, every building is protected as a New York City Landmark except one: the New Market building, which once held the Old Fulton Fish Market. This past year, a campaign to have the location be officially landmarked was started.
According to the New Amsterdam Market, an organization that has held public markets at the building and is leading the landmarking effort, the New Market is “the city’s only market building preserving its original relationship to water. The New Market Building is a rare example of 1930’s modernist municipal architecture.”
The New Amsterdam Market is also on a mission to revitalize the area around the old Fulton Fish Market, one of New York’s earliest open-air markets, dating back to 1642. Aiming to bring local, fresh, healthy food to the people of lower Manhattan, the market even offers a food stamp program backed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Member Margaret Chin. Founder and President Robert LaValva hopes to bring the area back to its past and turn New Amsterdam Market into a genuine public market with a permanent, year-round spot, something New York lacks.
The market will open on these dates in the fall: September 29, October 27, November 24, and December 15. If you’d like to support their effort to landmark the Market building, email the Landmarks Preservation Commission before Tuesday, August 13, at rtierney@lpc.nyc.gov. (Also, CC info@newamsterdammarket.org.)
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