Astor Pl. mulled for a new market
BY GABE HERMAN
Plans are being explored to bring
an outdoor market to Astor Place,
perhaps as early as this fall.
The Village Alliance Business Improvement
District has been seeking
community feedback for ideas about
the market, including meeting with local
residents and businesses and presenting
the plan at a Community Board
2 meeting.
William Kelley, the BID’s executive
director, said the idea goes back
to 2013, when the idea was raised in
workshops.
The concept has been envisioned in
many forms, including a Greenmarket,
a night market, a food market or a craft
market. It’s not until now, though, that
the BID has operationally been able to
consider implementing the market initiative,
Kelley said.
A Greenmarket seemed generally to
be a favored option in the community,
Kelley told the C.B. 2 Traffi c and Transportation
Committee in July. Since Astor
Place is city Department of Transportation
property, a formal request for
proposals, or R.F.P., would be required
for anything involving sales.
The BID has issued two R.F.P.’s,
one for a weekly pop-up Greenmarket,
another for more of a seasonal market
The South Plaza at Astor Place might be getting an outdoor market as
early as this fall.
that would run about three weeks at a
time, similar to the Union Square Holiday
Market. Kelley said, ultimately, neither
type of market might materialize,
but the BID wanted to cover all possibilities.
“We are going to continue to talk
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
to neighbors and businesses there,
but also people who use the space but
don’t live there,” Kelley told this paper.
“We’re hopeful something could happen
in the fall.”
Kelley said that markets can be community
unifi ers, and that a lot of the
most successful outdoor spaces in the
city have specifi c programming.
“We do hope it brings people,” he
said, “and students can meet residents,
can meet offi ce workers.”
One suggestion from C.B. 2 was to
involve local businesses in the market,
which Kelley called “a great idea.”
The main market space would be
the South Plaza at Astor Place, with
the North Plaza also potentially having
some stalls, as well.
A Greenmarket was favored by the
C.B. 2 Traffi c and Transportation Committee
in July. Other recommendations
for the space by the committee included
having cooking demonstrations, prioritizing
food and beverages, giving locals
reduced prices for stalls, having crafts
and a small winter holiday market, and
avoiding an outdoor cafe atmosphere
or an outdoor market like the popular
Smorgasburg, “which overwhelms the
space and would not be egalitarian,”
the committee’s resolution stated.
While the outdoor market is not a
done deal yet, the Village Alliance’s
Kelley seemed confi dent there would
be one soon in Astor Place, based on
what the community and the BID want,
he said. He added that if the market
doesn’t happen this fall, then it would
probably come about by next spring at
the latest.
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