Federal funds to boost revitalization efforts at Falls City Market

Mark Scheer, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·4 min read

Nov. 7—NIAGARA FALLS — The managers of the Niagara Falls City Market are getting a big financial boost to help revitalize and promote the Pine Avenue market space that has been an institution in the city for more than a century.

U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Niagara Falls and Buffalo, visited the market on Friday morning to announce the award of $245,000 in federal funds to the Field & Fork Network, a local non-profit organization that started overseeing market operations this year.

The funds are coming in the form of a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farmer's Market Promotions Program. The award to the Falls market is one of 55 made across the country and one of five in New York state.

The funds will be used primarily to support marketing and promotional efforts aimed at luring more vendors and more customers to the market space off Pine Avenue.

"The Niagara Falls City Market has been a fixture in the community for over 100 years and community groups are working diligently to reimagine the market space so it can improve the local food system and meet the needs of Western New Yorkers," Higgins said.

The Falls city market has been part of the Pine Avenue neighborhood since the late 1800s. In recent years, the number of vendors and number of customers has diminished. In 2018, city leaders and residents who took part in the development of a Local Food Action Plan for the Falls identified resurrecting the market as a priority project.

In August, city lawmakers agreed to turn management of the market over to the Field & Fork Network, a food and farming organization that focuses on initiatives designed to foster sustainable and healthy food systems. The move followed the Falls city council's decision to terminate a 99-year-lease agreement with the former manager of the market space, Lewiston businessman Al Muto.

Tom Lowe, project director of the Niagara Falls Local Food Action Plan, said funds from the USDA grant will help in four ways.

He said part of the money will be used to allow the market to retain a market coordinator position for at least another three years. In addition, money from the grant will allow for the development of a new city market business plan. Lowe said the market is also looking to strengthen its marketing and promotional efforts and that will involve a greater focus on adding more vendors to the site next season. Another part of the grant funding will be used to help market organizers perform an income viability assessment for the site.

Under Field & Fork, the market has enjoyed some success this year, including an uptick in paying customers and special events.

Earlier this year, the market started participating in the Double Up Food Bucks New York program, which helps families that receive SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, increase buying power when they purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables. Under the program, Double Up Food Bucks matches any SNAP purchase for up to $20 daily.

Lowe said both programs helped boost market sales this year.

In 2022, the market also hosted three special events, a kids day, a cruise night and an artisan market. Organizers are looking to expand the market's special events schedule next year.

Sheri Senek, whose family farm, Senek Farms, has been a presence at the market for 80 years, said it's encouraging to hear and see the site receiving so much attention in recent months.

She described the announcement about the federal grant in one word: "Exciting."

"This is the most interest we've had around here in years," she said.

More help is on the way for the market, which is in line to benefit from the Niagara Falls Strategic Economic Development Fund. The state-sponsored initiative will result in the investment of $40 million from the state-run Empire State Development Corp. for efforts aimed at spurring growth along city business districts, including Pine Avenue. City and state officials are planning to use part of the funding to support continued efforts to revitalize the city market.

"Ultimately, long-term, we hope that a strong city market will begin to generate foot traffic that will improve the business district along Pine Avenue," Mayor Robert Restaino said.