Famed Fulton Fish Mart Relegated to Parking Lot

A world-renowned fish market with $1 billion in annual sales has been struggling in a filthy, cramped parking lot since it was ordered out of its home near the World Trade Center to make room for rescue and relief equipment.

Business has dropped sharply for the Fulton Fish Market in the three weeks since it was relocated to a lot ringed with barbed wire on the banks of the Bronx River. The local union has reported dozens of layoffs; merchants say fish are spoiling.

The location is small, causing traffic jams, with drivers honking and swearing as they barely miss one another in the muddied lot. Trucks awaiting deliveries have to park as far as half a mile away near car-part shops and strip clubs. There are no computers or cash registers; the vendors use cell phones to take orders.