Food glorious food--in lower Manhattan?

The World Trade Center block is the site of two urban tragedies. One was the attack on the twin towers in 2001; the other, the razing of Washington Market in 1967 to clear the space for the towers' construction.

What was Washington Market? Back in the day, "the largest wholesale produce market in the United States," as well as a retail extravaganza. Now, of course, the area is more or less sterile--the Fulton Street Fish Market is gone and groceries are practically nonexistent, except for, say, a so-called Amish market replete with on-the-grid refrigerators and florescent lights. The result is a downtown that despite an abundance of financial wealth--except for, you know, university professors--is socially impoverished.

But that may soon change.