Reinvented for our present time and needs, New Amsterdam Market will incubate a new and growing business sector: purveyors who source food directly from farmers and producers whom they trust to be good stewards of our land and waters. And as true of public markets, the New Amsterdam Market will be accessible to all, striving to diminish the economic, social, and educational impediments to sound nutrition. To be comprised of retail and wholesale vendors including grocers, mongers, farmers and provisioners, brokers, importers, and sellers of cooked foods, New Amsterdam Market will follow a local tradition, set by the market halls of old New York. Reaching their last zenith in the early 19th Century, emporia such as Fulton Market, Washington Market and Jefferson Market were lauded for the bounty and quality of their offerings, which attracted visitors from the entire city and far abroad. We are inspired by history's most engaging public markets, which bring together commerce, place, and culture. Of special interest are the market district of Les Halles in Paris, whose destruction is now appreciated as a loss to that city and every facet of its society; and the covered market halls of Britain, whose potential for revival has been proven by the recent reinvention and success of London's Borough Market. The democratic and cultural vitality of public markets has long made this civic institution worthy of municipal and philanthropic support.