Centre Market Place is a one block long
street in
Lower Manhattan,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, bordering
Mulberry Street to the east,
Grand Street to the south,
Broome Street to the north, and
Centre Street to the west. Centre Market Place was originally an extension of Orange Street (now
Baxter Street, which starts at Grand Street, where Centre Market Place ends), before being formally renamed Centre Market Place in April 1837,
[Post, John J. ''Old Streets, Roads, Lanes, Piers and Wharves of New York'', 1882.][Stokes, I N Phelps. ''The Iconography of Manhattan Island 1498–1909'', 1918.] after Centre Market, which was west of the street. At one time, the street was at the top of a high hill. Currently, local residents consider Centre Market Place to be part of the
NoLIta
Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta and deriving from "North of Little Italy",Roberts, Sam"New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year"''New York Times'' (February 21, 2011) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. No ...
neighborhood.
At the southern end of the street, on the corner of Grand Street, is Onieal's restaurant, which features a cavernous wine cellar that once served as a
speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...
during
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...
. Gentlemen of means would walk through the front of the Police Building, perhaps make a contribution to the "widows and orphan fund" and then walk through the cellar corridor connecting the two buildings.
9 Centre Market Place was once the location to "The People's Bath House", a privately run public bathhouse built by the
Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor
The Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (AICP) was a charitable organization in New York City, established in 1843 and incorporated in 1848 with the aim of helping the deserving poor and providing for their moral uplift.Coble, Alan ...
. The People's Baths served as a model to which the City of New York would later build the city's truly public bathhouses.
The block also included several gun stores including the
John Jovino at 5 Centre Market Place, and the older Frank Lava Gunsmith at 6 Centre Market Place. The gun stores were part of a gun district owing to its proximity to the
police headquarters
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
at 240 Centre St.
A row of townhouses at No. 1, 2, 4, and 5 were rehabilitated by two developers, a husband-and-wife team, incorporating found architectural castoffs scavenged from around the world as part of its facade.
The street was home to many well-known writers, poets, and artists, including the noted crime photographer
Weegee
Arthur (Usher) Fellig (June 12, 1899 – December 26, 1968), known by his pseudonym Weegee, was a photographer and photojournalist, known for his stark black and white street photography in New York City.
Weegee worked in Manhattan's Lower Eas ...
, who lived in a small studio apartment at 5 Centre Market Pl.
References
Notes
External links
Centre Market Place storefronts€”photographs of all storefronts on Centre Market Pl.
{{Streets of Manhattan, state=collapsed
Streets in Manhattan