Tuna Family Mourns Fulton Fish Market’s Demise

After months of legal wrangling, the Fulton Fish Market finally closed:

The Fulton Fish Market, a cultural touchstone in lower Manhattan for nearly 184 years, packed up its last box of porgies early yesterday.
Its cobblestone-paved streets survived Tammany Hall, the Great Depression, two World Wars, the replacement of push carts with Nissan hi-low forklifts and alleged mob control.

. . .

Taking a coffee break at 5 a.m., a brawny vet nicknamed “Joey Tuna” struggled to hold back tears.

“Big guys ain’t supposed to cry, but a part of old New York is dying today,” Joey Centrone of Douglaston, Queens, said. “I recognize this place is antiquated, but it’s a part of us.”

Meanwhile, over in the Times, Joey’s brother Bobby also lets his emotions get the better of him:

“The city is throwing away its history,” said a fillet man named Bobby DiGregorio, better known as Bobby Tuna. “One day, there’s going to be a Banana Republic where I’m standing.” He finished slicing the belly of a fish the size of a Great Dane and slowly shook his head.

The new fish market at Hunts Point in the Bronx opened Sunday to lukewarm reviews:

The Fulton Fish Market opened for business at its new digs in The Bronx yesterday — with some of the 38 wholesalers already complaining that security there is too tight.

“It’s strange because it’s just a different environment. I was in that first market for 30 years — this is completely different,” said Mike Rizzuto, 53, of Montes Seafood.

He was annoyed that the enclosed compound, complete with chain-link fences and barbed wire, has three security checkpoints.

And some truck drivers griped about the increased travel time.

Buyer Michael Serra said, “I miss Chinatown, the Brooklyn Bridge, the scenery. There’s nothing here.

See also: New Fulton Fish Market (shouldn’t they get a more current name?).