H. CLAIRE BROWN / NEW FOOD ECONOMY – “Americans have a passion for oysters, which they eat at all hours, even in the streets,” wrote Moreau de St. Mery, a French visitor to New York City in the 1790s. At the time, oysters were arguably the city’s most iconic dish: oyster harvesters shelled them for passersby at outdoor stalls near today’s Wall Street, and celebrity fishermen opened oyster cellars all over the city for wealthier clientele.
New York’s edible oyster population met its end just before the stock market crashed a few blocks inland. By 1927, overhunting and pollution had taken their toll on the city’s oyster beds and the last one closed for good …
