NYC’s biggest produce market may relocate to New Jersey
America’s biggest wholesale produce market is looking to leave New York _ if the city doesn’t help rebuild the aging, outdated facility in the Bronx.
Steven Katzman, co-president of Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative Association, a vendors group, said a meeting is scheduled in late June to consider options for moving the market to New Jersey.
“But we’d rather stay here,” he added.
The Hunts Point market supplies 3.3 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables a year worth over $2 billion to more than 10 million consumers, vying with France’s giant Rungis produce market just south of Paris for sheer size and volume of sales.
The vendors’ cooperative pays more than $4 million a year to use the 125-acre, city-owned facility, which includes about 400,000 square feet of refrigerated warehouses, plus railroad tracks, loading docks and parking for trucks.
Katzman said the 41-year-old market is not up to today’s standards, citing as an example its open loading docks without refrigeration.
Katzman said the city’s Economic Development Corp. had come up with an initial rebuilding proposal that would cost $750 million, as estimated by a city-hired consultant.








