Essex Street is a north-south street on the Lower East Side of the

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 ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. North of

Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River i ...

, the street becomes Avenue A, which goes north to 14th Street. South of Canal Street it becomes Rutgers Street, the southern end of which is at South Street. Essex Street was laid out by

James Delancey James De Lancey (November 27, 1703 – July 30, 1760) served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and education De Lancey was born in New York City on November 27, 170 ...

just before the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

as the east side of a "Delancey Square" intended for a genteel ownership. Delancey named the street after

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

county in England. Delancey returned to England as a Loyalist in 1775, and the square was developed as building lots. Long a part of the Lower East Side

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

enclave, many Jewish-owned stores still operate on the street, including a pickle shop and many Judaica shops. During the late 19th and early 20th century it was sometimes referred to colloquially as 'Pickle Alley'. It is also home to the Essex Street Market. South of Hester Street, Essex Street is bordered on the east by Seward Park. The Sixth Avenue/Rutgers Street Line of the New York City Subway runs under Essex Street and has stations at

Delancey Street __NOTOC__ Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of New York City's Lower East Side in Manhattan, running from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Broo ...

() and East Broadway ().. The M9 runs on Essex Street for its entire length while the M14A+ Select Bus runs on Essex Street north of Grand Street.

Essex Street Market and Essex Crossing

The

Essex Street Market Essex Market (formerly known as Essex Street Market) is a food market with independent vendors at the intersection of Essex Street and Delancey Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The market is known for its many local sh ...

, constructed in the 1940s, is an indoor retail

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

that was one of a number of such facilities built in the 1930s under the administration of Mayor

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...

at 120 Essex Street, at Delancey Street. The Essex Street Market is operated and managed by the

New York City Economic Development Corporation New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a nonprofit corporation whose stated mission is to "leverage the city’s assets to create beneficial jobs that drive growth. This ensures equitable and sustainable development across al ...

(NYCEDC). In September 2013 it was announced that the market would be integrated into

Essex Crossing Essex Crossing is an under-construction mixed-use development in New York City's Lower East Side, at the intersection of Delancey Street and Essex Street just north of Seward Park. Essex Crossing will comprise nearly of space on and will cos ...

, a $1.1 billion development which began construction in 2015, and which will feature 1,000 low-, moderate- and middle-income apartments, a movie theater, a bowling alley and cultural space. It is expected to be completed in 2024. The old market closed May 5, 2019, and the new location was open by May 13.

References

Notes

External links

New York Songlines: Avenue A with Essex Street
a virtual walking tour.

- photographs of storefronts on Essex St.
Essex Street Market
{{Streets of Manhattan Streets in Manhattan Lower East Side