New Amsterdam Market Seeks Support From New Yorkers To Preserve Fulton Fish Market

New Amsterdam Market and advocacy group Save Our Seaport Coalition have launched a petition to preserve lower Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market and turn the once-thriving space into a year-round destination for artisan foods and products.

The idea to reestablish the Fulton Fish Market in Lower Manhattan as a "world-class" public market promoting responsible agriculture, regional sourcing, and fair trade, is not that far-fetched: the petition only needs 10,000 signatures in order to jumpstart the project. This means that only 10,000 out of 8,000,000 New Yorkers have to sign.

In order to get as many signatures as possible, Save Our Seaport has a number of renowned chefs, restaurateurs, and culinary television personalities supporting the petition, and many New York chefs have helped the campaign by participating in a video asking for signatures.

 "If we can pull this off, it is going to be an amazing place for people to go shop. There's going to be a chef's market and there will be a weekly grocery market where farmers will come from all around the New York area," April Bloomfield, chef for the Breslin and the Spotted Pig and board member for the New Amsterdam Market said in a release. Bloomfield is one of the many New York chefs featured in the video along with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Elizabeth Falkner, Michael Anthony, Bill Telepan, Floyd Cardoz, Luke Holden, Carmen Quagliata, Daniel Boulud, and Michael Chernow.

The petition is only the first step of the mission to restore the fish market, but if the plan is executed, the market will be open all week and give shoppers access to wholesale retailers and specialty vendors that sell specially curated ingredients rarely found at other markets around the city. The unique products will include uncommon fruits, ethically raised meats, sustainably harvested local fish, and imported fair-trade ingredients.

Robert LaValva, president of New Amsterdam Market, believes that the Fulton Fish Market has already proved its potential popularity and that if it is approved, it will bring lots of attention to the downtown area.  "We have demonstrated that a Market on this site is sure to bring vitality to South Street and draw both chefs and retail shoppers from Lower Manhattan and beyond, in the same way the Union Square Greenmarket turned that area into a destination," he added.

 

Skyler Bouchard is a junior writer for the Daily Meal. Follow her on twitter at @skylerbouchard.