This past weekend, Lower Manhattan celebrated a historic occasion as Fulton Stall Market
It may seem hard to think of Lower Manhattan as a neighborhood. The word “Downtown” conjures up images of glass and steel skyscrapers, power lunches, and money markets. The area is often considered an enclave for bankers and lawyers, a bastion of power-brokers in pinstripe suits who all but desert Downtown after 5 p.m. But while the residential boom in FiDi may seem like a new phenomenon, Lower Manhattan has a long history as a residential neighborhood.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Downtown was literally the place to be. Up until the 1830s, the city barely extended past Canal Street, and every New Yorker called Downtown home. Throughout the 19th century, the city grew, and Lower Manhattan evolved into the center of city government, as well as one of the world’s most important ports.
As business boomed, many of the wealthy merchants and bankers who profited from the city’s bustling maritime industry moved out, building homes outside the city. At the time the establishment of residential neighborhoods beyond the boundaries of the central city was a radical idea. It marked the advent of the “business district”—a place where people worked but did not live.
This past weekend, Lower Manhattan celebrated a historic occasion as Fulton Stall Market celebrated the unloading and delivery of local foods via the Hudson River sail freight Schooner Apollonia at the Fulton Stall Market this Sunday, May 23 at 91 South St. in Lower Manhattan.
The Apollonia’s carbon-neutral merchant vessel’s voyage to restore sail freight service between Hudson Valley and New York City began earlier this week in Hudson, New York. After docking in Red Hook, Brooklyn to unload bulk grain product ingredients for local craft beverage makers, as well as Hudson Valley specialty foods, the schooner arrived Sunday at the South Street Seaport where its goods were showcased to the public at a pop-up outdoor market from 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm. The Apollonia will dock and unload at Pier 16 with the support of the South Street Seaport Museum.
This is the first time since 1977 that a commercial vessel has unloaded food products at the Seaport for public market distribution.
The Seaport is NYC’s original market district, where public markets supplied by ships have operated since the 1700s.
The Fulton Stall Market, with the support of the Schooner Apollonia, is helping to revive this original function of the Seaport District and help grow a sustainable regional food and agriculture system supplied by sustainable transportation methods.
Van Brunt Stillhouse
Greenpoint Cidery
Poor Devil Pepper Company
Hudson Valley Bee Supply
Strong Rope Brewing Company
Captain Sam Merrett and the crew of the Schooner Apollonia were present along with representatives of the Fulton Stall Market and beloved Seaport artist Naima Rauam, whose artworks celebrate the historic Seaport District and Fulton Fish Market.
Local food products transported by the Schooner Apollonia will be featured at the indoor Fulton Stall Market in the coming months.
Please keep in mind while supporting the Schooner Apollonia and its producers you will be supporting sustainable sail freight shipping and “fewer fumes from food freight”!
Visit FSM Monday-Saturday 11:30 am – 5:00 pm to explore the wide variety of local foods available and learn about our CSA program and farm-to-table take-out menu.
