The food distribution nonprofit GrowNYC celebrated the June 17 ribbon cutting for a massive new cold storage facility in Hunts Point that will allow millions more pounds of fresh, healthy food to flow into the community each year.
The $40 million facility was a decade in the making, said Marcel Van Ooyen, president and CEO of GrowNYC, at the press conference attended by Governor Kathy Hochul, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Jose Serrano, Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr. and Borough President Vanessa Gibson, along with about two dozen guests.
GrowNYC already operates many greenmarkets and gardens, and currently distributes to 370 locations throughout New York City. With the new facility, it plans to distribute on a larger scale into schools, city agencies, hospitals, senior centers and the like.
The new building has seven temperature- and humidity-controlled rooms and a freezer, allowing for storage of dairy products and other items beyond fruits and veggies. It also features four loading docks, a green roof with a tank for rainwater collection, permeable pavement and a giant electric composter that eliminates the need to truck wasted items out of the facility.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who allocated $19 million in state funding for the project, said at the press conference that the food hub was “a symbol of our commitment to the South Bronx.”
The “revolutionary” project will create more than 200 jobs and a 600% increase in locally sourced food distribution by 2034, she said.
Hochul said it only makes sense to better connect upstate, where there’s a lot of fresh food, and downstate, where there are a lot of people.
The arrangement will benefit everyone, she said. Farmers are “under siege right now” due to Trump administration tariffs, flooding and storms due to climate change, and other challenges, and meanwhile, many Bronx families struggle to put food on the table, said Hochul. The facility is expected to generate an additional $15 million for farmers while bringing a lot more fresh food into South Bronx homes.
“If we can help both populations at the same time, I call that a huge win,” Hochul said.
With major cuts to SNAP benefits looming under the Trump administration, the state must step up its efforts to feed New York families, said Hochul.
She blasted President Trump for his proposal to cut $300 billion in SNAP funding over the next ten years. “These aren’t thought-out policies, they’re just cruel,” Hochul said. “They should be ashamed of themselves for even contemplating that.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the leading figures in the fight against the Trump administration cuts, told the crowd that although the Bronx has some of the world’s largest food distribution sites, nearly 40% of residents don’t have enough to eat, according to a 2023 study.
Ocasio-Cortez said she secured $1 million in federal funding for construction of the food hub, which is “setting a national standard and pushing back against the system that tells low-income families to settle for less.”
“Access to fresh food should not be a luxury,” she said.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
