Pleasantville Severs Ties With Farmers Market Operator

Pleasantville is ending its 15-year association with the operator of its popular farmers market, opting to form a nonprofit organization that will enable the village to exercise greater control and start an indoor winter market.

Officials informed Community Markets on Sept. 14 that the village will be parting ways with the company at the close of the market in December. The parties have been operating on renewable three-year agreements that require the village to notify Community Markets if it plans to discontinue its arrangement upon each contract’s expiration.

Mayor Peter Scherer said after having a successful run with the Ossining-based company it was time for Pleasantville to move in a new direction and have the freedom to introduce new elements.

It is also important that the market be financially neutral for the village.

Pleasantville has been laying out between $5,000 and $10,000 a year for miscellaneous costs but hasn’t received payments from Community Markets on a consistent basis, he said.

“We’re very much interested in having a Pleasantville-centric farmers market,” said Scherer. “We have a lot of competition now and we wanted to infuse the Pleasantville brand.”

While most of the vendors will remain the same next year, there will be some turnover, said Peter Rogovin, chairman of the village’s Farmers Market Committee.

New vendors will likely represent types of items that patrons have requested through surveys, he said.

Rogovin said the village is appreciative of Community Markets’ contribution but it is crucial for Pleasantville’s market, which operates on Saturdays, to have unique features and be allowed to evolve based on what the community would like to see.

About three years ago, the committee pressed Community Markets to make changes, most notably to move the operation off the sidewalk and into a portion of the parking lot on Memorial Plaza. Live music, activities for children and families and culinary events were among the new features that were introduced.

“They are the largest organization of their type in this region, and we are thankful for all of their assistance in helping us to get our market to where it is today,” Rogovin said. “I think as our market grew, we realized that, going forward, we needed a different set of capabilities and a focus on our market as a destination and as a unique village asset.

It was a great fit for where we were but not for where we are going, and we wish them well.” Frankie Rowland, Community Markets’ marketing and advertising director, said the company was notified by Scherer that Pleasantville would not be renewing its contract but wasn’t provided with any further explanation. Despite the severing of ties, Rowland said Community Markets will leave on good terms with the village.

“We’re disappointed we will not be returning after the fall,” Rowland said. “We’ve certainly enjoyed collaborating with the customers and our vendors, but it’s their prerogative.”

Community Markets currently operates 17 markets throughout the metropolitan area, including seven in Westchester and two in Rockland, with the remainder throughout New York City.

Another key factor driving the change has been the clamor within the community to have a winter market, which is scheduled to begin on Jan. 5 at Pleasantville Middle School, Rogovin noted. The most practical place to set up the indoor market is on Pleasantville School District property, but the for-profit Community Markets could not legally operate the market on school grounds, he said. That is now permissible with the formation of an educational nonprofit organization with a mission of promoting consumption of local foods for economic and health benefits.

Deputy Mayor Mindy Berard said the addition of a winter market is a critical new piece.

“The partnership the Farmers Market Committee worked out with the school district is a great venture,” Berard said.

“It’s fulfilling needs people were looking for. It’s going to be great. It’s great of the school to open its doors and have this kind of thing.”

The nonprofit organization will also be able to be involved in community events, such as a scholarship fund it plans on creating to recognize a deserving Pleasantville High School senior. That money will be derived from market fundraisers. Eventually the Pleasantville Farmers Market will have its own website, Rogovin added.

The winter market will run for 19 consecutive Saturdays into early May.

There will then be a short break with the outdoor market retuning around Memorial Day weekend and lasting until the week before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, the market will resume indoors.

Rogovin said the Farmers Market Committee will become the board of the new nonprofit organization. The committee is interviewing candidates to manage the market but in the interim it will assume that responsibility.

A couple of regular vendors said they were looking forward to the change, particularly the addition of a winter market. Nirmala Gupta of Bombay Emerald Chutney Company said that continuity should serve both the vendors

and patrons well.

“Pleasantville will have its own winter market; customers will look for us during the winter (and) will be able to come to us,” Gupta said.

Ed Trotta, a Pleasantville resident and owner of Trotta Pasta in Thornwood, another market regular, said as a merchant he was satisfied with how Community Markets ran the operation and for initially launching the market, which he called the strongest in Westchester County.

But Trotta understands why officials prefer more control. He anticipates most customers won’t notice the transition. “Pleasantville saw an opportunity,” he said. “Everyone is trying for money, an opportunity to boost their income. The market is in place; it’s not like starting a new market. They’re just passing the baton.”

Sam Barron contributed to this story.