Essex Street Market

It’s had many iterations over the years, but Essex Street Market has been in existence since the 1940s, when it was established by the mayor in an effort to control crowding of vendors on city streets.

Today, it’s a prime place for food shopping on the Lower East Side, with most of the stalls operated by owners and producers who have made the goods you’re buying. Cheese, charcuterie, chocolate, jams, and bread are among the grab-and-go items.

If you have 20 minutes or to spare after shopping here, ask to be pointed in the direction of the Lowline, the laboratory phase of a planned underground park.