A Last Whiff of Fulton's Fish, Bringing a Tear

New York Times ^ | 7/9/05 | Dan Barry

[saquin]

It smells of truck exhaust and fish guts. Of glistening skipjacks and smoldering cigarettes; fluke, salmon and Joe Tuna's cigar. Of Canada, Florida, and the squid-ink East River. Of funny fish-talk riffs that end with profanities spat onto the mucky pavement, there to mix with coffee spills, beer blessings, and the flowing melt of sea-scented ice.

This fragrance of fish and man pinpoints one place in the New York vastness: a small stretch of South Street where peddlers have sung the song of the catch since at least 1831, while all around them, change. They were hawking fish here when an ale house called McSorley's opened up; when a presidential aspirant named Lincoln spoke at Cooper Union; when the building of a bridge to Brooklyn ruined their upriver view.

Take it in now, if you wish, if you dare, because the rains will come to rinse this distinct aroma from the city air. Some Friday soon, perhaps next month, the fish sellers will spill their ice and shutter their stalls, pack their grappling hooks and raise a final toast beneath the ba-rump and hum of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive.

And on the Monday, they will begin peddling their dead-eyed wares inside a new, custom-made building in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx, and the Fulton Fish Market - that raucous stage of open-air overnight commerce - will be no more.

[lilylangtree]

Defined as "progress".

[Restorer]

Read the whole thing thinking it was Dave Barry and that he wasn't being very funny! LOL

[catonsville]

They had an amazing variety of fish. New Yorkers knew that if you wanted really fresh fish, it was worth a trip to the Fulton Fish Market.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Fresh out of high school, in 1960, I hired on with a snapper boat. 90% of all I caught was on the way to FFM before the day was done, and my income depended on the price they would pay. Imagine, fresh Red Snapper, .28 per pound, .10 for prime Grouper!
It was great adventure, but no way to make a living.
I would do it again, I'm still a damn fool!

[SunTzuWu]

I did the same thing 20 years later and not much had changed. I spent 10 years on snapper/grouper boats and most of our catch was headed toward Fulton within a day or two of hitting the dock. I loved the lifestyle but I couldn't make a living at it forever. Like you, if I had it to do over again I would.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I've hauled a ton of Snapper in 5 or 6 hours, one at a time, more than once. I remember them going into a frenzy, when you would be hauling a fish up, and the water would be red, with other fish trying to take the bait away from the hooked fish. Those were the days, my Friend! Be glad we got to live them.

[kylaka]

If I remember correctly the Fulton Fish market is in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. So it sounds like they are just moving to newer digs nearby. The Mob will still run it, and within a week it will smell the same as it always did, so I don't see that very much has changed.

[saquin]

No, Hunts Point in the Bronx is where it will be moving to. It's been down on South Street in Lower Manhattan for over 150 years.

[kylaka]

Ahh, you are right. I'm thinking of the Hunts Point Market, which is/was mostly involved in produce. I did packaging design for vendors who operated in both markets. I remember the FFM mostly because I was advised to watch what the heck I said, and to whom, lest I ended up floating in the river by tomorrow morning.

[saquin]

I remember the FFM mostly because I was advised to watch what the heck I said, and to whom, lest I ended up floating in the river by tomorrow morning.

LOL. What, you don't wanna swim with the fishes?

[saquin]

Duh, I meant "sleep with the fishes".

I really need to get some sleep, myself. :-P