A budding plan to grow a farmers’ market in Fresh Meadows is getting the green thumbs up from neighborhood residents.
Community support is sprouting for a green market to open at Cunningham Park this summer, local leaders said.
“It’s up for a lot more discussion, and we’re really in the tentative, beginning stages,” said Martha Taylor, who chairs Community Board 8’s Parks Committee. “But we’re excited about it at this point.”
Local vendors would sell fresh produce — and possibly baked goods, jams and juices — near the tennis courts, in the corner of the main parking lot on Union Tpke. and 196th Pl.
Officials hope to open the market in late June, after the Big Apple Circus leaves town, and run it for at least one afternoon a week until October.
“People from this community go to other green markets in other parts of Queens,” Assemblymember Nily Rozic said. “I think this is really something the community has been craving.”
The Parks Committee held a meeting Jan. 30 to gauge public interest, since a proposed plan was met with some opposition about eight years ago.
Some residents had feared the market would decrease parking spots, increase traffic, and take away business from a newly opened supermarket nearby, Taylor said.
But reception for the plan has increased over the years, said Taylor and Fresh Meadows Homeowners Civic Association President Jim Gallagher Jr.
“We were pleasantly surprised at all the people who were there in favor of it, including some who had been opposed to it the first time,” Taylor said.
The Parks Committee plans to interview market vendors next month, while the full board is slated to vote on the proposal in late spring.
Residents looking to weigh in can call Rozic’s office at 718-820-0241.
“I think we’re going to have a process that is very neighborhood-driven, and one that has everyone’s input,” Rozic said. “Fresh Meadows foodies are in for a treat.”
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