Thursday, June 28, 2001
Union Square Greenmarket will lose some space
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The Union Square Greenmarket, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this month, was, to my mind, one of the important XX Century’s innovations (along with such as the creation of the Landmarks Commission) that protected New York City’s integrity. More specifically, it protected Union Square from turning into a daytime business district and a nighttime drug users’ jungle.
Invented by Barry Benepe, an idealistic urban planner with a strong practical streak and good organizing ability, the Greenmarket involved the cooperation of many interests, some of them conflicting. The family farms in the tri-state area around NYC had been suffering for decades, unable to compete with the low-cost agribus production methods. While dairy farmers in some states have been partially saved by the recent Northeast Corridor Dairy price support Compact, fruit and vegetable growers have no such protection. The ability to drive into NYC and sell produce at retail prices was a godsend for them. Consumers, although paying a premium, were assured of home-grown produce, interesting specialty items not available in the mass-product agribus environment, and hand-picked quality. Not just moms and dads ; there are also major restaurant chefs who selected items for menu specials, rather than having crates of standard mass production goods delivered from Hunts Point, ordered by phone.
All of a sudden the drug-infested Union Square had a residential ambiance. And residences followed, Zeckendorf Towers added more of a residential density, quality restaurants opened to serve local customers. Union Square Park went through a reconstruction, the drug dealers were booted out, and the neighborhood experienced the often mentioned nevertheless true miraculous rebirth.
Now the Union Square area is a quality high-price mixed use district, and growing. But the Greenmarket, bringing trucks and market stands that occupy prime space four days a week, seems to have made the Parks and Recreation Department edgy. A Union Square redevelopment that would shrink the market space by putting three dense rows of trees and something of a promenade at the Southwest corner (Gandhi Park) was proposed by Parks in 1998. Barry Benepe, then an official of the Greenmarket organization, saw this as bad design that would overwhelm the park, and offered a reduced scheme. His protest was supported by the Fine Arts Federation of New York people..
The project went into abeyance during the Union Square subway station construction years, and seems to have surfaced again. .Parks Commissioned Henry J. Stern, when questioned by the NYTimes (June 6, 2001), indicates a pro-Greenmarket stance, but "when it comes to choosing between trees and trucks - big trucks - I’m for trees." As to the changes, his inconclusive statements ("We’ll design and then see what fits ...I don’t think ...any farmer will be forced out" and ".there will be room for 95, or 90 percent of the Greenmarket") are driving the friends of the farmers to distraction. This is particularly offensive when the commissioner neither discloses his plans nor seeks the cooperation of the community. Consequently, opposition abounds. One organization, Friends of the Greenmarket, collected nearly 20,000 signatures on a petition of protest in 1999, during a short two-week campaign. There is also a chefs’ group whose members are feeling threatened and have drafted letters of objection. The whole scene is particularly daunting when the farmers have repeatedly offered their cooperation in shrinking and readjusting their stalls, without receiving a definite proposal and the certainty of a continued relationship.
Currently the Union Square market supports 65 farmers, who set up shop on one or more of the four days a week along the North-West edges of the park, selling their farm produce, home-baked breads and flowers. On a typical Spring Saturday some 40,000 shoppers and tourists come through the area. Our market is a major tourist attraction and has been the prototype for 27 more Greenmarkets throughout the city, under the supervision of the Council on the Environment of NYC (a privately financed city agency, directed by Lys McLaughlin). Barry Benepe’s model is now studied and has been duplicated throughout the United States.
The Benepes, as a family, are environment people, and two of Barry’s sons are with the Parks Department. Ironically, Adrian Benepe, the Borough Commissioner of Parks for Manhattan, is at the forefront of the implementation of the changes in Union Square.
Having been a Union Square denizen and park watcher for 52 years, I have lived through all of its phases, with a window on the park for most of the seasons, good and bad, and can attest that the present time is the most cheerful. In the Square’s Hyde Park phase one could walk out at lunchtime into the park and participate in or be entertained by a debate with any one of a number of radicals who gathered people around them to expound their beliefs, theological, political or social, take your pick. Om May Day Harry Bridges and his cohorts would harangue the entire neighborhood, with Communist slogans blasting through loudspeakers, undaunted by the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy. On the day in 1952 when the Rosenbergs were executed, long lines of silent mourners formed along what is now the Greemarket line and into 17th Street, silently protesting and mourning.. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon rode along the parkside during the 1960 Presidential campaign. Mayor Robert F. Wagner campaigned in the park, bravely withstanding the attacks of wiseguy hecklers. The tradition continues, although less vehemently - Mayday orators still attack the market economy, and Edward Said can berate Israel at will on Muslim solidarity events. The market is closed on Mayday, and the South end of the Park is made available for special demonstrations on any day For my money, the Park is just fine as is. Any changes that the Commissioner wants to make should be presented to the community, early, though CB#5 and directly.
If you want to express your views, Commissioner Stern and Borough Commissioner Benepe can be reached through The Arsenal, 830 5th Ave, NYC 10021, 1-800-201-PARKS.
Executive Director McLaughlin of the Council is at 51 Chambers St., NY 10007. David Distler’s Friends of the Greenmarket have no listing.
.
I note with great interest that the City is making e-mail access to its agencies and officials very difficult. First of all you do not get to the agency by typing its name, or variants, or a NYC connotation term as the Yahoo or MSN search argument. They have deleted what are known as HTML metatags. To get to Henry Stern, click File, Open, type nyc.gov, enter and you will get the NYC home page. Under Directories in the column to the left of the Mayor’s message, click City Agencies, then Other Agencies, then L-P. It will give you the links to the agencies, you can go from there. Follow the same procedure for accessing Police, Fire or any other departments.. Tricky? As a citizen who wants to save taxpayers’ money spent answering frequently frivolous messages, I applaud; as the instigator of such (infrequent) messages, I’m annoyed.
The Union Square Greenmarket, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this month, was, to my mind, one of the important XX Century’s innovations (along with such as the creation of the Landmarks Commission) that protected New York City’s integrity. More specifically, it protected Union Square from turning into a daytime business district and a nighttime drug users’ jungle.
Invented by Barry Benepe, an idealistic urban planner with a strong practical streak and good organizing ability, the Greenmarket involved the cooperation of many interests, some of them conflicting. The family farms in the tri-state area around NYC had been suffering for decades, unable to compete with the low-cost agribus production methods. While dairy farmers in some states have been partially saved by the recent Northeast Corridor Dairy price support Compact, fruit and vegetable growers have no such protection. The ability to drive into NYC and sell produce at retail prices was a godsend for them. Consumers, although paying a premium, were assured of home-grown produce, interesting specialty items not available in the mass-product agribus environment, and hand-picked quality. Not just moms and dads ; there are also major restaurant chefs who selected items for menu specials, rather than having crates of standard mass production goods delivered from Hunts Point, ordered by phone.
All of a sudden the drug-infested Union Square had a residential ambiance. And residences followed, Zeckendorf Towers added more of a residential density, quality restaurants opened to serve local customers. Union Square Park went through a reconstruction, the drug dealers were booted out, and the neighborhood experienced the often mentioned nevertheless true miraculous rebirth.
Now the Union Square area is a quality high-price mixed use district, and growing. But the Greenmarket, bringing trucks and market stands that occupy prime space four days a week, seems to have made the Parks and Recreation Department edgy. A Union Square redevelopment that would shrink the market space by putting three dense rows of trees and something of a promenade at the Southwest corner (Gandhi Park) was proposed by Parks in 1998. Barry Benepe, then an official of the Greenmarket organization, saw this as bad design that would overwhelm the park, and offered a reduced scheme. His protest was supported by the Fine Arts Federation of New York people..
The project went into abeyance during the Union Square subway station construction years, and seems to have surfaced again. .Parks Commissioned Henry J. Stern, when questioned by the NYTimes (June 6, 2001), indicates a pro-Greenmarket stance, but "when it comes to choosing between trees and trucks - big trucks - I’m for trees." As to the changes, his inconclusive statements ("We’ll design and then see what fits ...I don’t think ...any farmer will be forced out" and ".there will be room for 95, or 90 percent of the Greenmarket") are driving the friends of the farmers to distraction. This is particularly offensive when the commissioner neither discloses his plans nor seeks the cooperation of the community. Consequently, opposition abounds. One organization, Friends of the Greenmarket, collected nearly 20,000 signatures on a petition of protest in 1999, during a short two-week campaign. There is also a chefs’ group whose members are feeling threatened and have drafted letters of objection. The whole scene is particularly daunting when the farmers have repeatedly offered their cooperation in shrinking and readjusting their stalls, without receiving a definite proposal and the certainty of a continued relationship.
Currently the Union Square market supports 65 farmers, who set up shop on one or more of the four days a week along the North-West edges of the park, selling their farm produce, home-baked breads and flowers. On a typical Spring Saturday some 40,000 shoppers and tourists come through the area. Our market is a major tourist attraction and has been the prototype for 27 more Greenmarkets throughout the city, under the supervision of the Council on the Environment of NYC (a privately financed city agency, directed by Lys McLaughlin). Barry Benepe’s model is now studied and has been duplicated throughout the United States.
The Benepes, as a family, are environment people, and two of Barry’s sons are with the Parks Department. Ironically, Adrian Benepe, the Borough Commissioner of Parks for Manhattan, is at the forefront of the implementation of the changes in Union Square.
Having been a Union Square denizen and park watcher for 52 years, I have lived through all of its phases, with a window on the park for most of the seasons, good and bad, and can attest that the present time is the most cheerful. In the Square’s Hyde Park phase one could walk out at lunchtime into the park and participate in or be entertained by a debate with any one of a number of radicals who gathered people around them to expound their beliefs, theological, political or social, take your pick. Om May Day Harry Bridges and his cohorts would harangue the entire neighborhood, with Communist slogans blasting through loudspeakers, undaunted by the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy. On the day in 1952 when the Rosenbergs were executed, long lines of silent mourners formed along what is now the Greemarket line and into 17th Street, silently protesting and mourning.. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon rode along the parkside during the 1960 Presidential campaign. Mayor Robert F. Wagner campaigned in the park, bravely withstanding the attacks of wiseguy hecklers. The tradition continues, although less vehemently - Mayday orators still attack the market economy, and Edward Said can berate Israel at will on Muslim solidarity events. The market is closed on Mayday, and the South end of the Park is made available for special demonstrations on any day For my money, the Park is just fine as is. Any changes that the Commissioner wants to make should be presented to the community, early, though CB#5 and directly.
If you want to express your views, Commissioner Stern and Borough Commissioner Benepe can be reached through The Arsenal, 830 5th Ave, NYC 10021, 1-800-201-PARKS.
Executive Director McLaughlin of the Council is at 51 Chambers St., NY 10007. David Distler’s Friends of the Greenmarket have no listing.
.
I note with great interest that the City is making e-mail access to its agencies and officials very difficult. First of all you do not get to the agency by typing its name, or variants, or a NYC connotation term as the Yahoo or MSN search argument. They have deleted what are known as HTML metatags. To get to Henry Stern, click File, Open, type nyc.gov, enter and you will get the NYC home page. Under Directories in the column to the left of the Mayor’s message, click City Agencies, then Other Agencies, then L-P. It will give you the links to the agencies, you can go from there. Follow the same procedure for accessing Police, Fire or any other departments.. Tricky? As a citizen who wants to save taxpayers’ money spent answering frequently frivolous messages, I applaud; as the instigator of such (infrequent) messages, I’m annoyed.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 3:53 AM 
