The founder of the yhe New Amsterdam Market announced earlier this week that the South Street Seaport staple was closing, but the board is trying to keep it alive.
Roland Lewis, the chair of the market’s six-member board, said he and fellow members will meet Friday to discuss bringing back the service that operated out of the old Fulton Fish Market site.
Lewis said the board members were surpised when the market’s founder, Robert LaValva announced in an email Monday that the seven-year-old market would cease operations.
Lewis said the board had no warning before the messagre was sent.
“We’re certainly appreciative of Robert and what he has accomplished and built, but we’re hopeful we might be able to save it,” Lewis said.
LaValva didn’t return messages for comment.
He opened the New Amsterdam market in 2007 to keep the Fulton Fish Market site alive with commerce after it relocated to the Bronx two years earlier.
In his email, LaValva said he couldn’t secure the finances to finish the market’s season, which was slated to end in December.
Lewis couldn’t guarantee that the market could come back before the season’s end but said they will explore every option they have with the community and vendors.
“There are no grand plans at the moment but there is hope,” he said. “It is possible.”
