New York City's first hawker center officially arrived in September 2022, but it was conceptualized years before by chef Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain envisioned a first-of-its-kind center with over 100 different vendors, including a farmers market, an oyster bar, a bakery, and a rooftop beer garden, and thanks to a friend, his vision was realized.

Inspired by Bourdain, Urbanspace food hall and Singaporean street food enthusiast K. F. Seetoh opened Urban Hawker, the first NYC-based Singapore-style hawker market, in September 2022. Following an appearance on Bourdain’s “No Reservations,” Seetoh joined Bourdain in planning the market and kept the vision alive after the chef’s death.

In a 2018 tribute to the late chef, Seetoh wrote, "I can unreservedly tell you that he was a champion of all things authentic, the unheralded, and the disadvantaged." Urban Hakwer maintains these ideals in a brick-and-mortar capacity, housing 17 vendors selling Chinese, Indian, Southeast Asian, Malay, and Peranakan culinary stylings among others.