South Street Sustainable Market Showdown
Jun 27th, 2008 by Jervey
The Times has an interesting piece on two local food markets duking it out for dominance of the Fulton Fish Market space:
In one corner, the underdog: the New Amsterdam Public, a one-day market, with more than 60 handpicked regional food vendors, whose organizers hope to make it permanent. It will include New York chefs and a pavilion showcasing the best loaves from 13 New York bakers, organized by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery.
In the other corner, a smaller, permanent effort called the Fulton Market Stalls. That project, which is set to begin Thursday, is organized by General Growth Properties, a company that has proposed transforming South Street Seaport by building retail space and a 42-story hotel and apartment tower. Sixteen former fish stalls west of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive will be filled with Hudson Valley produce, hot dogs and sausages by the chef Todd English, and other artisanal foods.
Only a handful of the stalls will be open by this weekend. A rotating roster of vendors and chefs who want to test concepts will be added in the coming months, said Clark Wolf, the restaurant consultant working with the developer.
Both the New Amsterdam and the Fulton Market Stalls represent the increasing interest in local food outlets beyond the city’s Greenmarket system. Their supporters share a goal: to create an authentic market district among the fish stalls and cobblestones.