Are You Going to Hester Street Fair?

As if Significant Eater and I aren't lucky enough to live in the 2nd most desirable neighborhood in NYC, there is now a fabulous new addition to our 'hood - The Hester Street Fair.

I say "our hood" because I can. Significant Eater and I actually live in the corporation (yes, a co-op is a corporation) known as Seward Park Cooperative, that owns the Hester Street property upon which the fair is located. This plot of land, located right next to Seward Park (the first municipal playground in the US, btw), had sat unused for many decades. Located on top of a subway line, and due to co-op politics, analysis paralysis, inertia and other nefarious reasons, this valuable piece of real estate was basically locked up and allowed to become an eyesore for the neighborhood. However, over the years since we've moved downtown, the residents of SPC have been electing to the board of directors professionals in many fields; architecture, urban planning, finance, legal, IT, business, etc., who have helped Seward Park catch up with the present and move boldly into the future, in terms of our property and with a commitment to making the neighborhood a better place to live. A quick walk around our buildings will make you smile..broad sidewalks, green spaces, beautiful flowers and landscaping, parks for the kids, shopping and other amenities right outside the door are all what made the move to SPC easy for Significant Eater and me. And now, during our co-op's 50th anniversary celebration, we have the Hester Street Fair.

Like an eager kid on the first day of school (well, that would be Significant Eater; I freakin' hated school while she loved it - and kids, stay in school so you can end up with a good job like hers or else you'll end up a blogger like me) I snuck downstairs early (SE hadn't even gotten up for her first cup of coffee) to snap a picture of the setup...

The fair is being run by a professional team known as The Big Social, and most of them live right in the neighborhood. I like to think of the fair as a joint venture between the proprietors of the fair, the neighborhood, our co-op, our management team, vendors, fair-goers, etc. However you look at it, the set-up went smoothly, and by about noon on opening day, this is what it looked like...

Couldn't have asked for a more glorious day, and the crowd was estimated in the thousands. Tree tops will help keep the fair shaded as it gets warmer in the summer, so have no fear...

There was a nice mix of booths on opening day, with probably 20% of them devoted to food. While SE and the rest of the ladies we were with went shopping (strangely enough, they all bought some jewelry), I was busy checking out the food stalls. Pretzels were in abundance, from the Sigmund Pretzelshop on Avenue B. Not only abundant, but fresh and delicious, these are nothing like the street pretzels you might be buying on the corner. Try the gruyere and paprika, and all three of the delicious dips that go along...

Mile End Montreal Bagels was there, and I took home half a dozen for the freezer. They toast up beautifully, and look how happy the bagel people are. You can pre-order or buy them at the fair...

Walking towards the back end of the fair, I spotted these gentlemen, who were intimately involved with getting the fair off the ground, as well as enjoying hanging out in front of our coop's 50th anniversary poster, sporting our new logo. From left to right, Seward Park Cooperative's indefatigable general manager, from property manager Charles H. Greenthal & Co., Frank Durant; long-time director and NYC civil servant Carlos Rosado; and the president of Seward Park Cooperative, Michael Tumminia. Kudos to all...

There were also lobster rolls (we had 2) from Luke's in the East Village, Vietnamese food from Orchard St. faves An Choi, freshly baked pies, shave ice, smoothies, omelets and more...all too much for Tasty to devour in one day. But guess what? The fair is open on Saturday AND Sunday, so even though the weather Sunday was less than ideal, I made my way back, because I wanted to try the Virginia barbecue from Frank's Chop Shop. Although Frank's is a barbershop owned by Mike Malbon, it's not a bad name for barbecue either; the backstory is that Mike's dad is a well-known Virginia barbecue person...(Malbon Bros. Barbecue), so Mike wanted to do barbecue at the fair, and, and, and...this is what I bumped into on Sunday...

Now, there's no way they're making barbecue for thousands, and from what I heard, they ran out pretty quickly on Saturday, but on Sunday I was able to grab a pulled pork sandwich with a side of beans and I headed back upstairs to my apartment to chow down. And it was pretty good - the tender pork piled high on a bun with a hit of tangy cole slaw on top to help it all down. Not bad, boys.

And for dessert from another vendor that wasn't there on Saturday, I (over) indulged in these. Hey, it's for science, you know. While the rainy weather did nothing to help this product, the flavors came through wonderfully, the service was with a smile, and I hope to see Macaron Palace at the fair every weekend.

The Hester Street Fair is located at the intersection of Hester and Essex Streets and will run every weekend through the late fall. The green market will be coming to the fair (on Sundays) sometime in May or early June. There will be a rotating cast of vendors, so it's never going to be the same. Come down to check out the fair, and see what makes the lower east side one of the most exciting places to live and play in New York City.