BY GABE HERMAN | Four new vendors have been announced for the new Essex Street Market, set to open this spring in the new development at Delancey and Essex Sts.
The New York City Economic Development Corporation, which manages the market, announced the four new culinary additions on Feb. 6. They are Mille Nonne, which serves Italian comfort food; Happy Pig, offering vegan Southern barbeque; Heros and Villains, which specializes in made-to-order hero sandwiches; and Don Ceviche, a Peruvian food company that previously had a stall at the Long Island City Flea Market. This will be Don Ceviche’s first permanent location.
Petra Bart, the founder of Happy Pig, was more than happy to become a part of the famed market.
“I’ve been proud to call the Lower East Side home for 20 years,” she said, “and for me the Essex Market has always been a place that celebrates the neighborhood and community. I’m so excited to be joining this amazing family of small businesses.”
With this latest quartet of vendors coming to the new Essex Street Market, the total there will now be 38. This includes the 24 vendors at the current market who will move to the new space, and 10 previously announced new vendors, which include Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Josephine’s Feast!, Roni Sue’s Chocolate, and Flower Power Herbs and Roots.
The Essex Street Market has been on the Lower East Side since the 1940s, and was created as part of Mayor LaGuardia’s efforts to deal with pushcart vendors clogging up the streets. The current market is located at 120 Essex St., between Delancey and Rivington Sts.
The new market will be down the block at 115 Delancey St., on the ground and mezzanine floors in a building that is part of Essex Crossing, the new mega-development that, when finished, will have 1.9 million square feet of residential, commercial and community space.
Dominic Berg is chairperson of Community Board 3’s Essex Crossing Task Force.
“These four new restaurants contribute to a solid lineup of establishments that embody the diverse immigrant history and innovative spirit of the Lower East Side,” Berg said.
The new market will occupy 37,000 square feet, three times its current size. It will include a demonstration kitchen and two full-service restaurants.
The new building at 115 Delancey St. will have 24 floors. Along with the new Essex Market, it will feature 195 rental apartments and a 14-screen movie theater.
E.D.C. and the Lower East Side Partnership also announced they are putting out a request for proposals, or R.F.P. “seeking local artists to create a public mural installation inside the new market space.” Submissions for that project are due by Feb. 18.
