South Street Seaport’s New Market Building will be demolished

A South Street Seaport site once slated for a 42-story tower is now set to be demolished by the city, The Real Deal reports. Following years of deterioration, the city has decided to fully demolish the New Market Building, which was once part of the Fulton Fish Market, by the fall.

Parts of the structure have already been removed, but a full demolition will be complete later this year. At one point, the Howard Hughes Corporation, which is now developing many parts of the South Street Seaport, wanted to build a 50-story residential and hotel building at the New Market Building site.

The SHoP Architects-designed tower was denounced by local residents, so HHC decided to go with a more scaled back proposal of a 42-story tower. That too met with overwhelmingly opposition, and the developer ultimately scrapped plans to develop the site altogether.

Preservationists have been campaigning for years to save the building, which isn’t an individual landmark, and sits outside the South Street Seaport Historic District. In this latest turn of events, the city has the support of the local community board and elected officials, a representative for the city’s Economic Development Corporation, told TRD.

Some members of preservationist group Save Our Seaport believe that the demolition of the New Market Building is only taking place to facilitate the conversion of the Tin Building, according to TRD. There is no official word yet on what will happen at the site once the New Market Building is no more.

• City moves forward with plans to demolish Seaport building [TRD]
• Seaport Developer Considered Hotel At New Market Site [Curbed]
• South Street Seaport Tower Stalls As Plans Revised [Curbed]