Lower East Side Market Announces New Vendors

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — City planners announced four new vendors on Tuesday that will open in the massive underground food and shopping hall being built on the Lower East Side.

Four local businesses will join the lineup of local restaurants and retailers that will open in the new version of the longtime Essex Street Market that will open at 115 Delancey St. in fall 2018.

The new vendors announced on Tuesday are: Samesa, a restaurant that serves Middle Eastern takeaway; Josephine's Feast, which sells jams and preserves; Saffron, a Fort Greene-based florist; and Flower Power Herbs and Roots, a longtime East Village apothecary shop.

The founder of Josephine's Feast! Laura O'Brien recalled visiting the original Essex Street Market, which opened in the 1940s, with her grandmother

"Growing up in Williamsburg, I would often accompany my Grandmother as she moved from stall to stall shopping on Essex Street," O'Brien said in a statement. "In fact, my mother never missed an opportunity to tell me how she sold shopping bags for a penny at the market. So it is with a great deal of excitement and pride that we are able to build out our business under the New Essex Street Market Roof."

The market is just one part of the massive Essex Crossing development. The long-delayed project will bring 1.9 million square feet of redevelopment to the Lower East Side, including new apartments, office space, and businesses. The first part of the Market Line is scheduled to open in Fall 2018 at 115 Delancey St., directly across from the current Essex Street Market.

The existing market will stay open until the new Essex Street Market opens, city officials say.

Correction: This post has been updated to show that the new businesses will open in Essex Street Market, not the Market Line.

Image credit: Rendering courtesy of NYEDC