I S S U E 1

Question: in an age when buying food is a mouse
click away and every city corner has a deli or
grocery store, how do small-time, neighborhood
food markets survive?

Answer: they don’t.

Park Avenue, outside La Marqueta

That is the sad conclusion facing the vendors at La Marqueta, a storied East Harlem market that sells everything from deli meats to dry salted codfish, a staple in some Hispanic cultures. Located on 114th Street and Park Avenue under the rambling, rumbling Metro-North train, La Marqueta longs for its heyday when it was the neighborhood place to shop. Now, one of New York’s most treasured community institutions faces bleak choices in a changing economy.

Over 50 years ago when La Marqueta was a bustling market filled with immigrant vendors and shoppers, it spanned five blocks. It first catered to Irish and Jewish immigrants in Harlem and later served Puerto Ricans, all of whom liked the market because it was familiar, cheap and sold ethnic products. But a string of incidents, including a fire and a number of break-ins, diminished the market’s popularity. And when big supermarket chains moved into East Harlem in the 1970s and 1980s, La Marqueta fell on hard times.

Now La Marqueta spans only one block and is housed in a modern warehouse-like building with 20 stalls. The vendors primarily sell food although there are some clothing stalls and one near the entrance selling cell phones and TVs. The market looks nothing like a traditional immigrants’ market with its stainless steel counters, hanging overhead lamps and its sleek blue and gray floor.

According to Henry Calderon, the director of the East Harlem Chamber of Commerce, authorities have repeatedly tried to revive La Marqueta. One plan sought to develop a comedy club, restaurant and ethnic food court in the market. Another plan called for building an entertainment complex with movie theaters and a bowling alley. Still another focused on maintaining the character of La Marqueta, but adding ethnic products from all over Latin America. None of the plans have been successful, Calderon said. "The people behind the proposals did not come in with the concept that La Marqueta can never be what it once was," he said. "There is too much competition in the neighborhood. We need to make that space a venue for tourism, entertainment, culture."

Nelson Centron says business is bad

Many of the vendors at La Marqueta said recently that business was not strong. "We have some regular customers but business has gone down a lot," said Nelson Centron, a vendor at Jose’s Meats. Jose’s is a small stall near the entrance of the market. It has a large deli window featuring chicken, eggs, bacon—all products, Centron admitted, that could be purchased in nearby supermarkets. Three large hocks of ham hang from the ceiling, near a fish tank that sits on the counter. Behind the counter, a radio plays salsa music and a candle burns next to three decorative figurines of Jesus.

Benny Lifschultz, the oldest vendor at the market, said a new supermarket is drawing away customers. "That is of course another problem on top of all the others we have had," he said. "I just hope that the customers will come back sooner or later." He said most of his customers are Hispanic immigrants from the Caribbean.

Nobody seems sure if La Marqueta has a long-term future. Judging by the trickle of customers in the market, the prospects may not be good. Miguel Santos, 30, of Puerto Rico, had time to reflect on that fact as he waited for some fish to be wrapped. "I hope it stays," he said in Spanish. "The service is great and the prices are low."

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