Kick off the holiday season in Harlem with the Harlem Night Market at La Marqueta, created through a partnership between NYC Public Markets (run by NYC EDC), Uptown Grand Central, TBo Harlem & Union Settlement.
This season’s edition returns Saturday, December 3, with an expanded number of vendors across three blocks of the market under the train tracks at Park Avenue, plus neighborhood-favorite DJs Stormin’ Norman, Ted Smooth and friends warming up the dance floor.
This year, there will be more family fun than ever before — including visits with Santa all three weekends, a bounce house and Harlem Night Market 360-degree photo booth.
On December 10, take a trolley from the market to El Museo del Barrio and the East Harlem Holiday Tree.
On December 17, hop the trolley to our pop-up ice skating rink at Uptown Grand Central’s 125th Street community plaza, which now features a new light installation by NightSeeing called “Uptown Flash.”
“Since its start as one of New York City’s public markets in the 1930s, La Marqueta has achieved a storied status as the heart of entrepreneurship for East Harlem and all of Uptown,” said Carey King, director of Uptown Grand Central. “For nearly a century now, these blocks under the rumbling Park Avenue train tracks have launched thousands of entrepreneurs with great products and great ideas. It’s our honor to be a part of showcasing that vibrancy for the holidays.”
Shoppers will be able to support more than 50 local makers and chefs with booths inside La Marqueta’s retail market (114th/115th streets), the La Placita event space (115th/116th streets), and Urban Garden Center (116th/117th streets).
“We’re so happy to be back for our third market in four years at the historic La Marqueta,” said Tony Rahsaan, founder of TBo Harlem and the Harlem Night Market. “Like last year, this will be another expanded market, due to the high demand to get in. Especially at this time of year, this market is super important to our maker community because, for some, this is the season that they make the lion’s share of their annual earnings.”
On the second and third weekends, the Harlem Night Market will also connect to points of interest north and south along the Park Avenue Viaduct. Trolleys will run along Park Avenue, traveling south toward El Museo del Barrio at 105th Street and East Harlem Holiday Tree at 106th Street (December 10), and north to 125th Street to the pop-up ice skating rink and “Uptown Flash” light installation at Uptown Grand Central community plaza (December 17). Trolley pick-up and drop-off will be at 115th Street, which has served as an Open Street this past season. Entry to the trolley, El Museo and the ice rink are free, though attendees are requested to register ahead for the ice rink here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pop-up-ice-rink-tickets-476486382597.
“The trolleys will connect La Marqueta with several of our other winter destinations here in East Harlem,” said Michelle Cruz, director of Economic Development at Union Settlement. “We’re so glad to partner on the second and third weekends, so visitors can support local vendors at La Marqueta, then hop aboard and experience more family fun across the neighborhood.”
The Harlem Night Market will feature:
Great Eats including Black Rican Vegan, Cafe Ollin, Lolo’s Seafood Shack, Fauzia’s, Flames Indian Aroma, Azara Kitchen, Green Papaya Vegan, e.terra kitchen, Keima’s Healing Hot Sauce, Mama T, Amuse Bouche Bistro & Cocotazo.
Sweet Treats including Make My Cake, UGCeats, Rebecca’s Sweets & Spices, Harlem Baking Co., Anjali’s Cup, Emily Made This, Those Damn Cookies, Pure Confections, Greensicle Pops, K’s European Jams, Island Love Cakes, Lizzy’s Treats, Flaco Coquito, Nuyorican Coquito, The Coquito Lady, Port Morris Distillery & YaVe Tequila.
Makers & Artisans including Adinkra Republic, East Harlem Preservation, Body Vanity, Pop Pins, Sleepy Coqui, Hannahbandanah, Harlem Hoopz, The Brownstone, FraMiAti, Angel Rays Designs, Carmen Community Artist, hrlmgrl Apparel, black N ugly, G to The Wall, Closiist, Mermaid Thread, HERBAS Plant-Based Body Care, Mkt 116, HOPE Center Harlem, Lovely Lisa Knits, Africa in Harlem, Dega Co., Chatterless, Tarin Andrea Designs, Rebelorisha, Bobbabeads, Keima’s Healing Hot Sauce, HardWear Style, Museum Mile Art, Pinchazo, By Nature Beads, Void Asylum, King Beard Care, Della J Designz, Chiwara Naturals, Aroma d’Angel, Young Buck Sports, children’s book author Irene Smalls & East Harlem historian Christopher Bell.
About the small businesses:
Seventy-five percent of the vendors are based in Harlem and work with the small business programs at Uptown Grand Central, Union Settlement, e.terra kitchen, the Columbia-Harlem Small Business Center, Shop Harlem Made & Ponce Bank.
TBo Harlem is a Harlem-based media company that specializes in supporting, marketing and amplifying small businesses, community issues, and the culture of East and West Harlem. As part of its work in building a local community of entrepreneurs, TBo is curating the vendors featured throughout the market.
The Harlem Night Market will also highlight several vendors with new permanent homes inside the La Marqueta retail market, including Cocotazo and Lizzy’s Treats.
Sponsors:
The Harlem Night Market at La Marqueta is brought to you by Uptown Grand Central, TBo Harlem and the NYC Economic Development Corporation, with support from Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, the NYC Department of Small Business Services, the NYC Department of Transportation, Ponce Bank, Columbia-Harlem Small Business Development Center, Shop Harlem Made, Union Settlement & El Museo del Barrio.
Dates:
Harlem Night Market
Presented by NYC Public Markets (run by the NYC Economic Development Corporation), Uptown Grand Central, TBO Harlem & Union Settlement.
La Marqueta
1590 Park Avenue (at 115th Street)
New York, NY 10029
Saturday, December 3rd, 4-8 p.m.
Saturday, December 10th, 4-8 p.m.
Saturday, December 17th, 4-8 p.m.
Free; RSVP preferred at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harlem-night-market-at-la-marqueta-tickets-469165585897
For press inquiries:
Tony Rahsaan, The Best of Harlem, tony@tbo.media or at 917-406-6496
