City Hopes To Revive East Harlem Market
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The city is hoping to revive the historic La Marqueta in East Harlem. NY1's Rebecca Spitz filed the following report. Since it was built in 1936, La Marqueta has been a fixture of East Harlem, covering five blocks along upper Park Avenue.
In its heyday, there were hundreds of stalls with vendors selling ethnic food and dry goods. Now, there are six.
Bernard Lifschultz has worked at the market for 63 years.
"The market was a very lucrative, very busy place and gradually has deteriorated until you see it in its present condition, which is on the verge of extinction," said Lifschultz.
Seth Pinksky, president of the city's Economic Development Corporation, says La Marqueta has been a victim of the times.
"It was a major resource for people in East Harlem, in Central Harlem, in the South Bronx," explained Pinksy. "Then, as those communities experienced the declines they experienced in the 1960s, 1970s – population dropped precipitously, crime rose, La Marqueta declined along with the neighborhoods."
This week, the EDC asked the community to weigh in about plans to redevelop La Marqueta.
Local resident Marina Ortiz, the founder of advocacy group East Harlem Preservation, said she supports its reemergence.
"I'd like to see some kiosks in there, obviously green markets providing fresh and affordable foods," she said. "That's something that's really lacking in this neighborhood. "
Ortiz is hoping whatever ends up in La Marqueta reflects the neighborhood's ethnic mix of Latinos, African-Americans, and Asians. While that may ultimately play a role, the EDC says the goal has to be replacing empty grates with merchants.
One vendor says he'd be more excited about seeing occupied stalls, if he hadn't heard that promise before.
"The same talk has been around for the past 20 years, but you haven't seen anything done whatsoever," said Lifschultz.
The EDC admits there have been some false starts.
"The city has started with concepts that were probably overly ambitious," Pinksy said.
However, Pinksy is confident that this plan will come to fruition.
The EDC is looking for plans that allow existing vendors to stay while serving the entire neighborhood. Anyone interested can go to information sessions at the market on April 1st and April 20th.
The deadline for proposals is at the end of next month.