Greenmarket Regional Food Hub takes root in Hunts Point
BY ROBERT WIRSING
A statewide greenmarket
food hub will soon take root in
the south Bronx.
As part of his FY2020 capital
budget, Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr. announced
on Thursday, July 25 that he
will provide $650,000 in capital
funding towards establishing
the NYS Greenmarket Regional
Known as ‘The Hub,’ the
over $25 million, 2-story, 75,000
square foot distribution facility
will be located in Hunts Point
and operated by nonprofi t
GrowNYC.
It will include a refrigerated
area for local business and
farms, a food processing area, a
distribution center and a wholesale
farmers’ market.
The BLD Architecture designed
facility will occupy the
former auxiliary parking lot
next to the Fulton Fish Market
and the current site of the seasonal
Wholesale Greenmarket
near Halleck Street and Viele
Avenue.
The land is owned by the
city and would be leased, according
to the NYC Economic
Development Corporation.
A GrowNYC spokeswoman
An architectural rendering of the NYS Greenmarket Regional Food Hub. Photo courtesy of NYCEDC
confi rmed that The Hub’s ecofriendly
design includes a
combo solar and green roof, an
electric truck charging station,
bio-digester and a green wall
among many other sustainability
features.
The Hub’s paved parking
lot is 60,000 square feet and includes
space for 27 car stalls.
Five GrowNYC trucks are
currently planned to be used at
the facility.
The Hub will transport approximately
20 million pounds
of local produce annually.
It will also create 95 permanent
living-wage jobs and
150 construction jobs in Hunts
Point.
The project is anticipated
to begin in fall 2019 and will be
completed in spring 2021.
Marcel Van Ooyen,
GrowNYC president, noted
that local farmers are suffering
from a lack of access to business
opportunities in the NYC
marketplace and underserved
communities lack access to
fresh, local foods and the jobs
and resources that make them
available.
“With The Hub we are addressing
all of these needs,”
stated Van Ooyen.
It will expand GrowNYC’s
wholesale distribution infrastructure
which makes highquality,
local healthy foods accessible
to underserved New
Yorkers via wholesale buyers
such as restaurants and institutions
and through innovative
partnerships with nonprofi t organizations.
The Hub will fortify rural
communities by paying farmers
fairly for the food they produce.
“The food industry is one of
the most signifi cant economic
engines in our borough and
this project will only help that
sector expand and grow stronger,”
expressed Diaz.
This past April, GrowNYC
received a $200,000 grant from
the NYS Health Foundation to
support its food distribution
programs Greenmarket Co.,
Youthmarket and Fresh Food
Box.
The funding allows
GrowNYC to continue operating
the Uptown Grand Central
Fresh Food Box and Lower
East Side and Brownsville Pitkin
Youthmarkets which distribute
over 95,000 pounds of
food annually.
The Hub will distribute food
throughout NYC and increase
access to affordable, healthy
foods and fresh produce in underserved
communities.
THE Greek American INSTITUTE
A SELECTIVE PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS OF ALL FAITHS
Food Hub.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A 8 UGUST 9-15, 2019 BTR