Backbiting about Farmers Market merchants brought to Village board

Local business people who were not named have been criticizing Warwick Valley Farmers Market merchants, according to Farmers’ Market Chair Cheryl Rogowski. At the recent Village of Warwick Board of Trustees meeting, she said she thought it important to address some of the negative comments they have received.

“Apparently, a couple of local business persons are approaching other local businesses in the area and talking to them about how detrimental the market is to their businesses,” said Rogowski. “We also feel as if they made claims about the market, about the condition of the parking lot, about how they have to clean it on Monday mornings.”

The Farmers Market has been in the Village for over 29 years and kept that space clean, said Rogowski. Those who work at the market have cleaned up the parking lot in the past and continue to do so.

One of the vendors who has encountered these comments, Emily Downs, said that, at times they are still there after closing. Downs owns Emily’s Hearth Pizza and takes orders until 2 p.m. and completes any orders before that time.

“Everything is made by hand and takes time. The only reason we would be there past 2 p.m. is to fulfill those orders,” said Downs. “It takes a bit of time to break down, like a restaurant at the end of the day. It takes about an hour for us to clean up.”

Downs said that they are not there to compete with other businesses. They are there trying to complete orders that were taken by 2 p.m..

“I am sorry to hear this, and if I can find out who the instigators are, I’ll speak to them face to face because there’s nothing worse than spreading that kind of negativity,” said Mayor Michael Newhard, referring to several negative comments mentioned.

However, the Village board has not received any official complaints about the market, Newhard said.