Essex Market is moving its Halloween party out onto the street. On Saturday, October 31, the market and the Lower East Side Partnership will close Broome Street between Essex and Norfolk Streets to cars from noon to 4 p.m. for a free afternoon of trick-or-treating, face painting, a bounce house, a photo booth and music.

New this year is a costume contest, and entering is simple: take a photo in the photo booth.

Part of a citywide program

The closure is one of the city's Trick-or-Streets events. This year the Department of Transportation has a record 160 car-free streets and plazas across the five boroughs and is handing out 75,000 pieces of candy. The Manhattan signature event is on Canal Street and Division Plaza on Wednesday, October 28, from 3 to 7 p.m.

Two more Lower East Side stops the day before

  • Hamilton Fish Park: On Friday, October 30, the Hamilton Fish Recreation Center hosts family Halloween activities from 4 to 7 p.m., with games, contests, prizes, arts and crafts, free candy and popcorn.
  • Stanton Street: The More Gardens Fund hosts a car-free Stanton Street Open Street between Essex and Norfolk Streets on Friday, October 30, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A market with a long history on this corner

There has been a public market in this part of the Lower East Side for more than two centuries. A market house stood on Grand Street between Essex and Ludlow Streets from 1818. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia opened the Essex Street Municipal Market on January 9, 1940, with four buildings and 475 vendors. A renovation in 1995 consolidated the vendors at 120 Essex Street, and in May 2019 the market moved across the street into its current home at Essex Crossing. It is the flagship of the city's public market system, which dates to 1937.

On Halloween the market itself is open its regular Saturday hours, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., so families can stop in for lunch before or after.

More at the market this week

  • Free Zumba on Sunday, October 25, at 10:30 a.m.
  • A Bring Your Own Records meetup at Catalyst Records on Thursday, October 29, at 7 p.m.
  • Fresh Bites cooking demonstrations resume on October 29.

How to go

Essex Market is at 88 Essex Street. The J, M and Z stop at Essex Street, and the F stops at Delancey Street, both directly below the market. The M9, M14 and B39 buses stop nearby, and there is a Citi Bike dock on Norfolk Street near the Broome Street entrance. Market hours are Monday to Wednesday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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