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Vendors' Fate at Williamsburg Market Still Uncertain
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 11, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 11, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Photo: Food of the Future
The East Williamsburg Moore Street Retail Market is one of four remaining city-run public markets built during the tail end of the Depression; opened by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in 1941, the Brooklyn market was created to clear the streets of unhygienic peddlers and monitor the scales for customers. Today the market is occupied by 13 vendors selling mostly tropical produce, roots and other ethnic foods to the local Hispanic community.
But not for long; in June the city’s Economic Development Corporation [EDC], abruptly told the vendors that the building would be demolished and replaced with affordable housing, offering them $20 per square foot if they vacated their stalls. But problems emerged when it was discovered that the EDC didn’t consult the local community board about their plans, which is required by city land use laws. The market won a one year reprieve, but with time running out, their fate remains precariously unresolved.
The EDC claims the market’s low rent and high overhead has resulted in a $1 million deficit during the past four years. Under the EDC proposal, the merchants would relocate to a strip of storefronts in a public housing development. But district assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, who is rallying to preserve the market, wants to know why the EDC has left 4 stalls empty despite inquiries from other vendors: “We would probably have a third less deficit if it was fully occupied.”
As it stands now, the remaining vendors are still required to move out by June. And there’s a great clipping from a 1941 New York Times article on the market’s opening here.
Tagged
affordable
affordable housing
As
brooklyn
bushwick
east williamsburg
economic development
Economic Development Corporation
food
housing
La Guardia
land use
mayor
Moore Street Market
new york
new york times
produce
public housing
retail
the city
vendors
williamsburg
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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