Hunts Point is home to over 12,600 residents, a thriving industrial business zone (IBZ), and the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center (FDC)—one of the largest wholesale distribution centers in the world and the single largest geographic cluster of food sources for the city (measured by annual distribution volume in pounds to NYC customers). The FDC is composed of over 155 public and private wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers, including the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market, the Hunts Point Cooperative Meat Market, and the New Fulton Fish Market. It is estimated that 4.5 billion pounds of food is distributed through the Hunts Point FDC annually, with roughly 50 percent going to NYC and 50 percent going outside the city. Together, the FDC directly employs 8,500 people. In all, 12 percent of all food distributed to NYC comes from the Hunts Point FDC. Forty nine percent of the customers at the FDC are independent restaurants and cafes, 20 percent are bodegas, 18 percent are supermarkets, and 13 percent are food markets.

This tour will include stops at the businesses within the FDC and will give participants a better understanding of this crucial piece of city infrastructure, and how it supports the city’s food economy. Additional stops will include the Peninsula, the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Facility that is currently being redeveloped into a mixed-use project with affordable housing, open space, and manufacturing uses.