Shoppers looking to buy some fresh and healthy produce will soon have that opportunity while enjoying some fresh air.
Beginning this July, an outdoor green market will be coming to Forest Hills. Community Board 6 (CB 6) voted to approve the market at its meeting on Wednesday, May 9.
According to Frank Gulluscio, district manager of CB 6, the green market will be on Queens Boulevard near the Forest Hills post office and the Forest Hills Jewish Center.
It will run on Sundays starting on July 8 and continuing through Nov. 18. Each Sunday, the market will open at 8 a.m. and close at 3 p.m.
Gulluscio said that the green market has gotten a huge response from the community and they fielded more than 100 phone calls before they were set to vote on the green market’s approval the day of the meeting.
He added that the market coming to Forest Hills will be a great asset to the neighborhood.
“When the community comes out as strong as they did, it’s a good thing,” Gulluscio said.
Margaret Hoffman, who works in the Greenmarket department of Grow NYC, a non-profit organization that aims to improve New York City’s quality of life through environmental programs, said that while they don’t have a full lineup of who exactly will be at the market, it will feature types of foods such as vegetables, fruits and baked goods.
Hoffman also said that all the foods in the market will come from family-run farms and will have been grown in the New York region.
There was also a petition for the green market that allowed people to show their support.
The petition has been signed by almost 500 people and is available on change.org. When you log onto the site, you can find it by typing “Forest Hills” in the search box.
Cathy Chambers, who is also from Grow NYC, was a big proponent of bringing the Greenmarket to Forest Hills. She attended the board meeting to show off the petition and urge the community board to approve the market for that site.
This was not the first time they have tried to bring a Greenmarket to the Forest Hills area.
According to Gulluscio, the organization came to the board a couple of years ago with an informal proposal for the Greenmarket. He said that they originally wanted to have it where restaurant row is on 71st Street near Austin Street. Gulluscio said the board decided that the location they picked wasn’t a good area for the market and to come back with a new proposal when they were ready.
Hoffman said that putting the green market in Forest Hills will give people in that area an opportunity to buy locally-produced food that they may not have had a chance to before. She added that residents have been very vocal in their support for the green market.
By Luis Gronda
