Green Market to Close for the Season

For Douglaston Village residents, fresh produce could once again be just a short walk away next summer.

Michael Hurwitz, director of GrowNYC, said the nonprofit intends to bring a greenmarket back to Douglaston next year, but that he would not review any plans until next month.

The market, which debuted July 10, will operate for the final time this year from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Sunday in the LIRR’s traffic circle along 235th Street.

For nearly two years, community leaders called for the creation of a neighborhood greenmarket as part of an effort to revitalize Douglaston Village.

Douglaston leaders said they believed the market’s first season was a success.

“We were very pleased with the variety of items and the attendance to the market,” said Dorothy Matinale, president of the Douglaston Village Chamber of Commerce. We see the market as an integral piece of the village revitalization.”

Douglas Montgomery, president of the community’s garden club, pushed for the creation of the market for several years. He said he would like to see more community groups get involved with the market next season.

“Next year, I would like to bring more of a community feel to the market,” he said. “We want to have a flower show in the train station during one of the markets and I would like to get P.S. 98 involved with some kind of civic project there too.”

This year, the market’s vendors included New Jersey’s DiPaola Turkeys, Suffolk County’s American Seafood, Ulster County’s Bread Alone Bakery, Mercer County’s Cherry Grove Farm, Delaware County’s Lucky Dog Farm, Orange County’s Madura Farms, Hartford County’s Newgate Farm and New Jersey’s Nolasco Farms.

Visitors were able to choose from a variety of goods, such as mushrooms, baked items, cheeses, lamb, organic vegetables, shellfish and pastries.

Earlier this year, members of the Doug Bay Manor Association, which represents 60 homes located several blocks from the greenmarket’s site, had publically opposed the project on the grounds that its locale could cause parking and traffic problems on their streets.

But Tom Pinto, the association’s president, said this week that the market had run smoothly since it opened last summer.

“None of our concerns happened,” he said. “We were happy to see it well-run. It didn’t affect us.”

Pinto said he would support the greenmarket being run in the same location next year if it were operated in the same manner.

Jerry Iannece, chairman of Community Board 11, said the market was better attended in the summer months when the weather was warm.

But he said he expected that CB 11 would support GrowNYC when it comes before the board for approval to operate the market next year.

But Jerry Emerson, who owns Peak Bicycle Pro Shop on 235th Street, said he believed the market provided a small boost to local businesses.

“It brought more foot traffic to my door and it brought life to our village,” he said.