Fulton Fish Market - New Bronx Facility

New Bronx Facility

On November 14, 2005, nearly 4 years after construction on the $85 million facility began, the Market opened at its Bronx location. The move had been delayed due to legal problems. The last-minute dispute was between a company which had had a ten-year monopoly on delivering fish from trucks to individual sellers' stalls, versus the cooperative of sellers who wanted to do the task themselves in the new building. When the feuding parties agreed to continue as they had been for another three years, the last obstacle to the move was removed and packing began.

The move from the historic Manhattan site was due to a number of factors:

• cramped location
• lack of modern amenities, such as climate control
• increasing real estate value of Manhattan site for retail and residential use
• redevelopment pressure due to desirable proximity to the South Street Seaport and the Fulton/East River area

The move brought 650 workers from the market's former location into the Bronx, with an additional 5500 diesel truck trips through Hunts Point per week (according to the NY Metropolitan Transportation Council - bringing the weekly total to 60,000. The facility generates over $1 billion in yearly revenue, and allows seafood distributors to store their goods in temperature controlled warehouses with easier transportation access due to its proximity to the Bruckner Expressway. The 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m2) facility has better access to major highways in Hunts Point; however, it makes no use of its waterfront location to take advantage of barge access to the LaGuardia Marine/Air terminal or other water borne transport potential.