Leadership committee approves letter of support for Bronx Park East Farmers Market grant application

The Community Board 11 Leadership Committee voted May 18 to send a letter of support for the Bronx Park East Farmers Marketso the market can meet an upcoming grant deadline for promotion and neighborhood outreach. Committee Chair Cynthia Rodriguez moved the measure during the leadership meeting, and members voted to approve it.

The motion followed a presentation from a representative of BPECA, the neighborhood group that applied for an Open Streets activation on Barker Avenue alongside Zimmerman Playground. The presenter described a weekend program that would run roughly 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., noted coordination with local stakeholders and said the market had secured funding formulas from DOT and the citizens committee to pay local staff and promote events. "We were in the highest level need," the BPECA representative said, adding the group would hire local people to staff the open street activation and program family activities.

During gallery-session public comment, Robert Press said he would oppose approving a letter that left blanks for names, dates and other specifics. "I would be totally opposed to approving something that doesn't have names, dates, times," he said, urging the board to ensure the letter is complete before sending. Committee members responded that the document before them was a template provided by the market and that leadership could approve supporting the market's grant application while staff and the chair would fill in the required details before submission.

Committee members said the letter is intended to support the market's grant application and promotional work rather than to commit the board to funding vendors directly. A committee member noted the template did not list specific dollar amounts and described the requested support as "money for promotion" and outreach. Members directed staff to finalize edits, hyperlink a related borough-president letter on the agenda, and circulate a completed version for signature.

Jeremy and Cynthia committed to complete the letter ahead of the market's deadline; meeting participants stated that the application required materials by May 22. After discussion about the template language and deadlines the leadership meeting voted to send the finalized letter. The motion passed.

Next steps: staff will finalize the letter of support and circulate it for signature to meet the market's submission deadline. The full board will have the opportunity to hear the item at the next meeting.