Essex Crossing Promises to Transform the Lower East Side while Maintaining Historic Roots
In a city that worships retail chains like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, local food purveyors in New York are facing intensifying competition from corporate monoliths. Nestled in the heart of the Lower East Side, the Essex Street Market has provided a safe-haven for smaller, family-owned vendors to sell their products since its opening in 1940. Many of the market’s sellers have inhabited the 76-year-old building at 130 Essex Street for decades. This summer, though, the 26 vendors will pack up their goods and haul them one block south to a brand new state-of-the-art facility below Delancey Street, part of a development called Essex Crossing.
The 6 acre complex is spearheaded by the Delancey Street Associates, a joint venture of private developers comprised of Taconic Investment Partners L.L.C., L+M Development Partners, B.F.C. Partners, and The Prusik Group. The project will introduce a 13-screen Regal Cinema, bowling alley, art gallery, underground shopping mall, multiple mixed-income residency buildings, and a Trader Joe’s grocery store to the neighborhood.
Charles Bendit, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Taconic Investment Partners, said that the new retail centers on Essex Street will provide a, “much better shopping experience” than is currently offered by the 130 Essex Street market location.
“There will be high ceilings, an industrial look, and it will feel much more voluminous than it does now. [The market] will have a much airier feel, and it will be more expansive than the narrow set-up it has now. It will be more efficient, because shoppers will be able to see more of what the vendors have to offer,” Bendit said.
Although private firms are in charge of the construction of the massive multi-use center, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (E.D.C.) is funding the entirety of the endeavor. This will allow most of the vendors to continue paying the same rent in the new market that they pay in the current facility, and ultimately encourage the vendors to maintain their product prices at a rate affordable to their present patrons.
Upon the unveiling of the development plans in 2013, Lauren Margolis was hired by the E.D.C. as a coordinator to voice concerns of the Essex Street Market Vendors Association during the transition into the new complex.
“Some of the vendors have been here for 40 years, so there is some sentimentality about leaving the building. But all of the vendors have been working with an architect to design and build their own unique stalls. It is a really big opportunity for them,” Margolis said.
Alysson Shapiro is a cheese monger at Saxelby’s Cheese, a dairy shop that has been located in Essex Street Market for ten years. As she offered goat’s milk cheese samples to curious shoppers, Shapiro said the best part of her job is the relationships she has formed with the consistent customers. She said her biggest worry is that the new Trader Joe’s will pose a threat to the smaller food vendors, and detract from their foot-traffic and local clientele.
“Who would come and buy our cheddar cheese from Vermont for $20 a pound when they can go and get a pound of it for $5 [at Trader Joe’s]?” Shapiro asked.
Stewart M., a self-proclaimed market regular, strolled up to the counter at Saxelby’s Cheese, greeted Alysson by her first name, and ordered a half-gallon of milk. He has been shopping at Essex Street Market for 35 years, ever since he moved from his native New Zealand to the Lower East Side.
“It’s a lot less expensive than the supermarket or corner grocer,” Stewart M. said.
He said he worries that the market’s prices will increase in the new facility.
“This neighborhood has changed drastically. It’s more young, affluent people now. But people with food stamps who have families to feed still can come here,” Stewart M. said.
Jay Koo, a member of the Coalition to Protect the Lower East Side, has worked alongside community organizers to preserve historic buildings in the neighborhood such as the market, and to combat rapid development in the area.
“A lot of the developers here have not considered the aesthetic wellness of the neighborhood, or keeping true to the neighborhood’s traditions. There is a cultural connection to the market building. I’m worried they will make it so unidentifiable people will not feel like they are connected to it anymore,” Koo said.
According to Margolis, though, the Vendors Association is devoted to conserving Essex Street Market’s authentic atmosphere within the new facility, as well as ensuring the prices remain lower than those of their supermarket competition.
“Everyone is committed to maintaining some of the atmosphere and the current demographic,” Margolis said.
“Speaking from the Vendors Association, I know it is really important that the market remains approachable. A lot of the vendors do 90 percent of their business through food stamps, and so that’s their main clientele,” Margolis added.
Other vendors, too, are hopeful the move will not alienate their current customer base. Ramona Rodriguez and her husband Luis have owned and operated Luis Meat Market within Essex Street Market since 1998.
“I am looking forward to the new experience, and I don’t fear losing customers. Our customers are very loyal here and I know I can count on them,” Rodriguez said, as her son Felix translated her Spanish responses to English over the meat counter.
According to development partner Charles Bendit, this type of positive outlook has been embraced by most of the community because the new development promises to bring opportunities for neighborhood improvement.
“The part of Essex Street by Delancey feels a little seedy right now. The windows and light that will be coming from the new buildings will create more transparency. The community has been great to work with, and the strong majority love what we’re doing,” said Bendit.
He denies that the Trader Joe’s will detract from the Essex Street Market vendors’ business.
“There will be some overlap, but this is a community that has historically supported Essex Street Market. It is just additive, and will bring more people to the neighborhood,” Bendit said.
If all goes as planned, the market’s new Essex Crossing location will stand as a juncture between the historic community of the Lower East Side and the burgeoning Whole-Foods-loving segment of the neighborhood population. In spite of corporate tendencies to sterilize environments, the Essex Street Market Vendors Association claims it is dedicated to preserving the unique community soul that is so highly valued by shoppers and vendors alike.
“We want to make sure the market, even in its glitzy new state, is still really welcoming for the entire population,” Margolis said.
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Interviewed Sources:
Charles Bendit – Co-Chief Executive Officer of Taconic Investment Partners, LLC - 212-220-9945
Lauren Margolis – E.D.C. / Essex Street Market Coordinator – lmargolis@esmva.org
Alysson Shapiro – Saxelby’s Cheese – alysson.shapiro@gmail.com
Jay Koo – Henry Street Settlement / Coalition to Protect the Lower East Side – Jkoo@henrystreet.org
Stewart M. – Shopper – 917-940-3668