Douglaston Market has a good season

The market ran from July to November with nine vendors located along the traffic circle at 41st Avenue and 235th Street, next to the Douglaston Long Island Rail Road station. Fresh produce, bread, cheese, fish and organic beef and poultry were sold.

“It went well for the first year and Grow NYC was happy with it,” Montgomery said, adding “We think we can do better. It’s just growing pains.”

He would like to attract more customers by having area groups and schools provide community service there, such as offering to recycle batteries. “This year, the Douglaston Garden Club showed people how to make wreaths,” Montgomery pointed out.

He believes the market has become a social venue, but noted there is no place for visitors to sit down with a bottle of water or a cup of coffee. “If we could have a little coffee place, it would be great,” Montgomery said.

Part of the problem is that most of the adjacent stores are empty. The popular grocery store-eatery, the Douglaston Market, was a gathering place, but it closed last June. Montgomery is concerned that there is not enough foot traffic in the area because of the vacant shops.

He also thinks that the farmers market was not marketed properly by the city. “We needed signs throughout the neighborhood and posters at the station, so that people knew we were there,” Montgomery said.

Although a couple of vendors said they didn’t have enough business, most were satisfied, the organizer said. “The fish and bread vendors always sold out,” he said.

Prior to its opening, the Doug Bay Manor Civic Association had opposed the market, fearing it would bring traffic and parking issues to their neighborhood near the station.

The problems never materialized. Montgomery noted that people came to the market throughout the day and never overwhelmed the area. The market was open on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Montgomery indicated that the program will file an application soon for this year’s operation with Community Board 11, as it did last year.