The Essex Market has a lot to offer. A lot.

Like sexy cakes:

Also fancy cheeses, fresh fish, fresh meat, wine, fresh produce, a coffee shop, an art gallery, household goods, a clock store(?), a barber shop, a restaurant, a tailor, ethnic foods, and sexy cakes. Also spaghetti cakes. And most of it is pretty cheap (well, not the cakes).

The Essex Market has been around for 60 years. When it opened in the 30's, it was because there were so many pushcarts on the street that firetrucks and police cars couldn't do their policing and fire fighting in a timely fashion. So the mayor at the time (Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia) created indoor retail markets as a permanent home for street vendors. Essex Street is one of those original indoor markets.

Gay Firefighter cake after the jump