Thanksgiving 2023 is right around the corner and markets are abundant with all of the ingredients you need for a delicious meal. We will have some schedule changes to accommodate shopping schedules, see below.

*Market days with an asterisk mean it's a special market, rescheduled to Tuesday or Wednesday, normally held on a Thursday or Friday, so that customers have an opportunity to shop for Thanksgiving ingredients. 

And don't forget the turkey!

Food scrap and clothing collections are the same for regularly scheduled markets, there is NO food scrap or clothing collections on rescheduled market days (those with an asterisk) other than Union Square Tuesday.

Monday, 11/20:
Union Square, MHTN, open 8am-6pm 

Tuesday, 11/21: 
All regularly scheduled Compost sites are open.
Astor Place Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-5pm Last day for the season
Bowling Green Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-2pm 
Brooklyn Borough Hall Greenmarket, BK, open 8am-3pm  
Bronx Borough Hall Greenmarket, BX, open 8am-4pm Last day for the season
*Columbia University Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-4pm 
Elmhurst Hospital Greenmarket, QNS, open 8am-3pm Last day for the season
Fort Washington Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-4pm Last day for the season
Lincoln Hospital Greenmarket, BX, open 8am-3pm Last day for the season
Poe Park Greenmarket, BX, open 8am-3pm Last day for the season
*Union Sq Greenmarket (Friday producers), MHTN, open 8am-6pm (LESEC will be collecting food scraps)

Wednesday 11/22:  
All regularly scheduled Compost sites are open.
57th Street Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-4pm Last day for the season
*97th Street Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-2pm (NO FOOD SCRAP COLLECTION)
Bartel-Pritchard Greenmarket, BK, open 8am-2pm 
*Bowling Green Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-2pm Last day for the season
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-3pm 
Eastchester Farmstand, BX, open 8am-1pm Last day for the season
Flushing Greenmarket, QNS, open 8am-3pm 
Morris Heights Farmstand, BX, open 10am-2pm
Morrisania Farmstand, BX, open 9am-2:30pm 
Mount Sinai Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-3pm Last day for the season 
*Parkchester Greenmarket, BX, open 8am-3pm Last day for the season (NO FOOD SCRAP COLLECTION)
Tribeca Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-3pm Last day for the season (Wednesdays only, open year-round on Saturdays)
*Tucker Square Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-3pm (NO FOOD SCRAP COLLECTION)
Union Square Greenmarket, MHTN, open 8am-6pm 
Upper Grand Central Farmstand, MHTN, open 1:30pm-7pm
Woodhull Farmstand, BK, open 9am-2pm 

Thursday 11/23 & Friday 11/24:
All Greenmarkets and Farmstand locations closed. No clothing or food scrap collections.
**The Union Square Friday Greenmarket is closed, but Lower East Side Ecology Center will be collecting food scraps at Park and 17th Street. 

Saturday 11/25 & Sunday 11/26
Regular Greenmarket schedule Please check individual market webpages for farmer attendance.
All Food Scrap Collection sites OPEN
All Farmstand sites CLOSED 

 

 

On Tuesday, April 25, GrowNYC management was presented with a letter asking for employees in certain programs within GrowNYC to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). As an organization, GrowNYC's mission is to equitably empower all New Yorkers to improve our city. A strong, dedicated and supported staff is essential in that mission.

We fully respect the decision these employees have made to unionize and have already contacted the union to work respectfully together. We look forward to cooperating with our employees' representatives as this process moves forward.

Please rest assured that GrowNYC Management remains committed to working with the Workers Collective in good faith and to reaching a speedy agreement with their designated representative. Meanwhile, we do not foresee that any programming will be impacted, and all sites will remain open as scheduled.

Marcel Van Ooyen
President and CEO, GrowNYC

The GrowNYC Compost Program is typically focused on collecting residential food scraps, but this Spring, we’re also giving away free compost made from the food scraps we’ve collected in the last year and processed by our partners! 

This is our annual act of reciprocity: we're closing the loop and giving thanks to the thousands of New Yorkers who have saved their food scraps from landfills by bringing them to our Food Scrap Drop-off sites. Small, 2-pound bags of ready-to-use compost will be available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last!

Compost Made in NYC

The compost for this Giveback is provided by two New York City Compost Project host sites: Queens Botanical Garden and Earth Matter NY. If you’ve dropped off food scraps at one of GrowNYC’s Food Scrap Drop-off (FSDO) sites, then the bag of compost you’ll receive may contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from your very own peels and pits. That’s what we mean when we say “closed loop.”

Compost Giveback Schedule

Quantities are limited and based on average weekly participation at each drop-off site, so consider coming early to make sure you get a bag. Our 2023 Spring/Summer givebacks are finished, past givebacks events are listed at the bottom of this page. 

How to Use Compost

You don’t need to have a backyard or garden to have a use for compost. Indoor plants benefit from an annual application of compost, and we all have access to street trees that can use some love. We recommend mixing your compost into soil at a ratio of at least 3 parts soil to 1 part compost for best results.

• For outdoor plants: Rake, sprinkle, or mix the compost into the soil of garden or tree beds.

• For indoor plants: Gently mix an inch of compost into the top layer of potting soil, or blend with potting soil when repotting.

Compost is not shelf-stable and will not store well. Please use your compost within a week or two of receiving it.

Our small Compost Giveback bags are also compostable! Please remove the tin tie and sticker before bringing the empty bag back to a GrowNYC Food Scrap Drop-off site for composting.

What is compost, anyway?

During Compost Giveback events, there’s often some confusion about what we’re giving away and why. Here are a few definitions to know:

• Food Scraps (noun) – the uneaten foods or parts of food. Calling these items scraps, rather than waste, highlights their value and potential for beneficial use, including human and animal consumption of rescued edible foods, composting, and anaerobic digestion.

• Composting (verb) - the process of aerobic, biological decomposition that transforms organic materials like food scraps and fallen leaves into compost.

• Compost (noun) – a soil amendment that resembles dark, crumbly topsoil, has a pleasant earthy smell, and has no resemblance to the original organic materials from which it is made. Compost refers to the finished product of the composting process, and is not to be confused with food scraps, which are just one ingredient in the composting process.

• Soil (noun) – the upper layer of earth in which plants grow. Healthy soil consists of 45% minerals, 25% water, 25% air, and 5% organic matter. Soil is not to be confused with compost, which is a soil amendment that adds organic matter and beneficial microbes to soil.

When you drop off your food scraps with GrowNYC, we bring them to composting facilities, where they’re mixed with carbon-rich materials like leaves and wood chips, and transformed into compost. The finished compost can be used to improve soil quality for houseplants, gardens, and street trees alike.

Additional Resources

• How to Use Compost Tip Sheet from NYC Compost Project

• See the New York City Street Tree Map for tips on how to care for urban trees.

• For information about getting compost in larger quantities, visit nyc.gov/getcompost. 

---

The compost giveback is made possible by funding from the NYC Department of Sanitation.

Past Giveback Events 

Thursday May 4th

• Kew Gardens FSDO (flyer)

Friday May 5th 

• College Point FSDO (flyer)

• Corona FSDO (flyer)

Saturday May 6th

• Ridgewood FSDO (flyer)

• Sunnyside Greenmarket (flyer)

Sunday May 7th

• Terraza 7 FSDO (flyer)

• Forest Hills Greenmarket (flyer)

• Jackson Heights Greenmarket (flyer)

Wednesday May 17th

• 58th Street Library FSDO (flyer)

• Madison Square Park FSDO (flyer)

• Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Greenmarket (flyer)

Thursday May 18th

• 181st Street FSDO  (flyer)

• Community Access FSDO (flyer)

• 145th Street FSDO (flyer)

• Tucker Square Greenmarket (flyer)

• Wilson Ave FSDO (flyer)

Friday May 19th

• 97th Street Greenmarket (flyer)

• E 96th Street FSDO (flyer)

• St. Mary’s Harlem FSDO (flyer)

Saturday May 20th

• Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket (flyer)

• Brooklyn Borough Hall Greenmarket (flyer)

• McCarren Park Greenmarket (flyer)

Wednesday May 24th

• Mott Haven FSDO (flyer)

• Morrisania FSDO (flyer)

Thursday May 25th

• Crown Heights Franklin Ave FSDO (flyer)

• Prospect Heights FSDO  (flyer)

• Norwood Farmstand (flyer)

• BronxWorks FSDO (flyer)

Friday May 26th

• New Roots Community Farm FSDO (flyer)

• Fordham Plaza FSDO (flyer)

• Montefiore FSDO (flyer)

• Parkchester FSDO (flyer)

Saturday May 27th

• Kensington FSDO (flyer)

• 7th Ave Sunset Park Greenmarket (flyer)

• Bay Ridge FSDO (flyer)

• Abyssinian Tot Lot FSDO (flyer)

• Inwood Greenmarket (flyer)

• Abingdon Square Greenmarket (flyer)

• Tribeca Greenmarket (flyer)

Sunday May 28th​

• 79th Street Greenmarket (flyer)

Wednesday May 31

• Rockaway Parkway FSDO (flyer)

• Little Haiti FSDO (flyer)

• Leif Ericson Park FSDO (flyer)

Friday June 2nd

• Cypress Hills FSDO (flyer)

• Crown Heights Farmstand (flyer)

• Flatbush Function FSDO (flyer)

Saturday June 3rd

• Ft. Greene Greenmarket (flyer)

• Bed-Stuy Fresh Food Box (flyer)

Sunday, June 4th

• Asphalt Green FSDO (flyer)

• Bensonhurst FSDO (flyer)

• Carroll Gardens Greenmarket (flyer)

• Columbia University Greenmarket (flyer)

• Cortelyou Greenmarket (flyer)

Wednesday, June 14th

• Newkirk Ave - Little Haiti Food Scrap Drop-off

Friday, June 16th

• Cypress Hills Food Scrap Drop-off

Sunday, June 18th

• Bensonhurst Greenmarket 

Our food system is broken.

1.4 million New Yorkers are food insecure - a number that will only continue to increase as the effects of climate change destroy crops and farmland in the Northeast.

We lose a farm every 3 days to real estate development and in the consolidated industrial agriculture system.

96% of all food entering New York City is through wholesale channels, much of it from far-flung parts of the globe, adding an enormous carbon footprint to what we eat.

GrowNYC’s New York State Regional Food Hub (The Hub) aims to change all this.

Opening in 2023, The Hub will connect local small and mid-sized farms with New York City schools, hospitals, and nonprofits, ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to fresh produce, while supporting regional agriculture.

We are creating a national model for building regional food systems that keep agriculture thriving while treating all stakeholders with dignity.

The Hub will enable GrowNYC to:

• Increase our impact by distributing 20 million pounds of fresh produce within the next five years
• Increase the number of Farmstands and Fresh Food Box sites making fresh produce accessible for all New Yorkers.
• Expand our current support of community-based organizations like food pantries and other nonprofits distributing food in the communities that need it most.

Your support is crucial in challenging the status quo. Thank you for sharing our vision of building a more equitable and sustainable food system throughout the New York City region.

1 in every 16 New Yorkers lives in a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) development, few of which provide access to any sort of community green space. Home to more than 4,500 New Yorkers, the NYCHA Houses at Castle Hill in the Bronx were no exception.

In 2020, GrowNYC began organizing around a vacant 10,000-square-foot piece of land within the Castle Hill Houses. We shortly began work on a new community garden, alongside NYCHA residents and community groups.

“In the NYCHA residences, we have folks that are coming from all different walks of life. There are residents who are willing to give back, who want to make investments into the community. The Garden is essential to their quality of life," says Chantel Kemp, GrowNYC Garden Coordinator.

The space is dedicated to the late Tenant Association President and activist Roxanne Reed, who advocated tirelessly for her community and the garden.

Today, the garden is not only a place where residents grow food but also a gathering place where community events and educational workshops are held.

As of today, GrowNYC has built 13 NYCHA gardens and 150 community gardens across the city, creating over 1 million square feet of community green space in New York City.

Green space is more than an amenity - it is vital to helping neighborhoods thrive. Gardens function as a community hub, improve mental health, and make space for green infrastructure that protects NYC from the increasing effects of climate change.

Help GrowNYC continue to make New York City a greener place for all and make a gift today! Thanks to Omni New York LLC, your gift will be matched, making an impact that will last for years to come.