Those droves needed to eat. “The idea for Canal Street Market came about because we were thinking about what the neighborhood really needed and what we saw was a huge demand for exciting, new food concepts,” said Mr. Chong, who spent a lot of his childhood in the area around Canal. He wanted to do something that would honor the street’s past, its connection to the iconic markets in Chinatown, as well as appeal to its newcomers.

The idea of a food hall, with a diverse mix of cuisines alongside a rotating roster of retail vendors, emerged. Today, Canal Street Market has 11 food stalls, including an outpost of the famous Chinatown spot Nom Wah Tea Parlor, and around 26 retail vendors, which often change on a monthly basis.

The market opened in December 2016. “The streets definitely seem a lot more bustling during the day,” said Simon Chung, the market’s director of partnership, who formerly served as brand development manager at Opening Ceremony. Of course, the biggest change isn’t the size of the crowd but who is in it. “There’s a lot more locals coming through,” Mr. Chung said.

When Exposure America, a communications agency whose clients include Adidas, Sonos and Dr. Martens, moved into an office a block south of Canal Street on Broadway, it also saw an opportunity. The company turned the ground floor of the building into an event space, which has since been taken over by Dotan Negrin, a musician by trade, and rebranded as 393 NYC. The space has been host to a number of pop-ups, including for Malin & Goetz and Herschel Supply Co. and for an exhibition of work by the artist Jerkface.