It Ain't Easy Being Green

It appears that Gristedes' John Castimatidis isn't the only one upset by the greenmarket proliferation. It now has come out that the greenmarket that was approved by Community Board #8 on the East Side has been torpedoed due to the opposition of retailer Eli Zabar.

As the NY Post reports this morning Eli Zabar's opposition to the proposed and approved greenmarket on the playground of PS 6 has led to its demise. In the Post's inimitable phraseology, the greenmarket "bought the farm."

The plug was pulled because the market sponsors were afraid that the site was going to be picketed and the sponsors didn't want "growers to be subjected to that sort of behavior." For his part Zabar, just like Castimatidis and Morty Sloan Nick D'Agostino and the folks at Food Emporium, didn't want the city streets used-free of charge-to compete with tax paying businesses.

Maybe now the City Council will begin to understand the importance of nurturing and not harming neighborhood retailers. In particular we will be looking to see if we can get the council to enact legislation that significantly restricts the activities of the legion of fruit and vegetable peddlers who have metastasized all over Manhattan,