Bagel Dreams

The Hoosier in me often fantasizes about frolicking in a grassy meadow filled with bagel – it is a magical meadow, where different varieties of bagel actually sprout from the Indiana soil upon which I skip.

But suppose I take that bagel and replace it with a tortilla, and substitute a five-block stretch of East Harlem for the meadow.
Well, now I’ve just entered a dream that was indeed realized by thousands of Harlem residents in 1938. And it’s one that could recur as soon as this summer.

La Marqueta, once the pride of Spanish-speaking New York, was a giant public market located along Park Avenue from 111th to 116th Streets. Created under Mayor Fiorello Laguardia, the market was a place where immigrants could get a taste of home – residents found freshly imported bacalao (salt fish), platanos (plantains) and hundreds of other delicacies from their Latino countries.

Over the years, due to a combination of economic downturns and political upheavals, the market languished. Today, La Marqueta only spans half a block, and of the 500 businesses that were once there, only eight are left.

But there is news of big plans to turn this market around. Sixteen million dollars has already been secured by the East Harlem Business Capital Corporation to create an even larger market - complete with freshly imported foods, restaurants and cafes. The development team has secured a 49-year lease on the space that runs from 111th street to 119th street under the Metro North Viaduct above Park Avenue, and insiders say they are optimistic that a groundbreaking could occur this summer.

When I return to my original dream, I wonder how the bagel will fit into the landscape of this project. In the past, East Harlem has been home to scores of immigrant groups - Italians, Jews, and West Indians, to name a few - and all of them have found a space for the food that connects them to their roots. I'm hopeful that as my grassy meadow slowly fades into cement terrain, I'll find a place in East Harlem where I can enjoy the bagel that brings me closer to home.