City Budget Cuts Scrap Composting At UWS Farmer’s Markets

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Due to city budget cuts, popular Upper West Side farmer’s markets have ceased offering composting services, although local politicians are mobilizing to contest this change.

GrowNYC, overseeing a network of over 80 open-air greenmarkets, farmstands and fresh food boxes, announced the conclusion of compost programming at both locations last week due to the nonprofit's depletion of funding.

Earlier this spring, the nonprofit filed a state notice indicating that 60 workers were slated for layoffs this summer. However, an anonymous donation following the city's funding cut in the fall enabled GrowNYC's programs to continue operating and its workers to remain employed, as previously reported by Patch.

As of this week, those funds have since been exhausted, resulting in the organization's need to lay off employees this past Monday, Council Member Shaun Abreu said on social media.

These layoffs will compound with GrowNYC's decision to discontinue additional programs in the upcoming weeks.

Despite a petition supported by over 52,000 signatures, GrowNYC was forced to suspend its food scrap collection service this week and discontinue its Stop ‘N’ Swap and Zero Waste Schools programs by the end of June.

"We are incredibly grateful to the hundreds of thousands who dropped off food scraps and gently used items, volunteered with us, learned with us, and advocated for our programs," the nonprofit said in a social media post. "Our journey wouldn’t have been possible without the unwavering support of our community, partners in government, and dedicated staff committed to environmental stewardship."

GrowNYC, alongside other community composting programs, has been grappling with efforts to preserve the bins following City Hall's decision to slash their funding amidst extensive budget reductions and an ongoing transition to city sanitation-managed curbside composting.

On Monday, Abreu, representing Manhattan's Seventh District, spearheaded a rally at City Hall advocating for the reinstatement of funding for composting and other green initiatives in the forthcoming budget.

"Today, as GrowNYC is forced to shut down food scrap drop-off sites and lay off unionized workers due to budget cuts, I joined advocates at City Hall to say one thing: Save our compost," Abreu said.

Since 2011, GrowNYC has diverted 24 million pounds of food scraps and hundreds of thousands of reusable household items from landfills, concurrently playing a crucial role in enhancing recycling and compost collection rates within the largest U.S. school system.

"Relative to other cities, we do not compost enough. Relative to our own goals, for climate, cleanliness and rat mitigation, we do not compost enough. Community composting is key to catching up," Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said. "The seven million dollars that we need to restore funding to this critical sector is 0.006 percent of the New York City budget. There is no fiscal explanation for this cut."

Both Levine and Abreu emphasized on Monday their desire for Mayor Eric Adams to reverse the budget decision and reinstate funding for these community programs.

"This decision is killing jobs and setting our city back big time when it comes to trash management," Abreu said.

Through initiatives like GrowNYC, New Yorkers would bring their food scraps to farmers markets and other designated drop-off locations. Subsequently, this organic waste would circumvent landfills and undergo transformation into nutrient-rich soil, benefiting parks, gardens, street tree soil and households.

"We want every dollar restored. We want it baseline; we want all those jobs back; we want community composting stronger than ever for the future," Levine said.

GrowNYC operated farmers markets throughout the city, including locations at West 79th Street and Columbus Avenue, West 97th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, and the Columbia Greenmarket on Broadway from 114th Street to 116th Street.