Every Saturday morning, the parking lot at the Staten Island Mall fills with folding tables, striped awnings, and the smell of fresh bread. It’s not a flea market it’s a farmers market, and it’s become one of the borough’s quiet community anchors. Staten Island isn’t packed with as many markets as Brooklyn or Manhattan, but the ones it has punch above their weight. In 2026, as grocery prices stay stubbornly high and residents look for ways to eat fresh without driving off-island, these markets are doing double duty: feeding families and knitting neighborhoods back together. Here’s where to find them, what they offer, and why they matter more than you might think.
Where to Find Farmers Markets in Staten Island in 2026
Staten Island’s farmers market scene is small but steady, anchored by a few reliable regulars.
Staten Island Mall Greenmarket
Located at the Richmond Avenue entrance parking lot, this GrowNYC-run market has connected local farms to Richmond-area residents since 2009, running every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., free and open to the public. It’s the borough’s most established option, with steady vendor turnout throughout the growing season.
St. George Greenmarket
Situated at St. Marks and Hyatt Street, this market serves the St. George/Tompkinsville corridor, walkable from the ferry terminal, making it an easy stop for commuters heading home.
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Decker Farm and Other Local Favorites
Decker Farm, a working historic farm on the island, regularly supplies vendors at local markets and is often called out by shoppers as a highlight, reviewers specifically mention buying produce grown right there rather than trucked in from elsewhere.
Other seasonal and rotating options, including neighborhood pop-ups and holiday markets like pumpkin patches, appear throughout the fall, particularly in Heartland Village and Historic Richmond Town.
Here you can find the full map of the NY markets.
Quick shopper tips:
- Most Staten Island markets run seasonally, roughly May through October, with peak vendor variety in summer
- Saturday mornings are the busiest and most popular shopping window
- Bring cash or a SNAP/EBT card, many NYC markets accept both
Making Fresh Food Accessible: SNAP and Health Bucks
One of the most overlooked features of NYC’s farmers markets is how they’re structured to reach everyone, not just shoppers who can already afford organic produce. Shoppers using SNAP benefits (EBT) can earn Health Bucks, for every $2 spent, they receive $2 in coupons good toward locally grown fruits and vegetables. It’s a small but meaningful nudge that keeps fresh food within reach for lower-income families across the island.
This matters because Staten Island, despite its suburban feel, has pockets that function like food deserts, areas where the nearest fresh produce is a bus ride away. A weekly market table stocked with local vegetables closes that gap, at least one day a week.
Why Farmers Markets Matter for the Staten Island Community
It’s easy to think of a farmers market as just a place to buy tomatoes. The data says otherwise.
They Keep Money Local
A Cornell Extension study found that every $1 a farmer earns at market generates another $0.48 in income for nearby businesses, creating a ripple effect through the surrounding blocks. On a national scale, 49% of farmers market shoppers also patronize nearby local businesses, and 42% eat at local restaurants during the same trip, meaning a Saturday morning market visit often turns into a whole local outing, benefiting the diner down the street as much as the farm stand itself.
They Build Social Capital
Markets aren’t just transactional. Nearly half of market attendees (48%) report connecting with others in their community while shopping, and that kind of casual social contact is exactly what researchers point to when they talk about building neighborhood trust and civic engagement.
They Support Real Jobs and Farms
Farmers who sell locally create roughly 13 full-time farm operator jobs per $1 million in revenue earned, compared to just 3 jobs for farms that don’t sell locally. For a place like Staten Island, where historic farms like Decker Farm are part of the borough’s identity, that’s not an abstract statistic, it’s the difference between a working farm staying open or disappearing.
They Improve Health Outcomes
Regular farmers market shoppers see roughly a 30% increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, according to CDC-linked research a meaningful nudge in a borough where car-dependent sprawl can make grocery shopping feel like a chore rather than a habit.
The Bigger Picture: A National Movement, Felt Locally
Direct-to-consumer farmers market sales topped $3 billion in 2022, with roughly 80% of Americans visiting a farmers market at least once a year. Staten Island’s markets are a small slice of that trend, but they carry outsized meaning for a borough that sometimes gets left out of the “New York City food scene” conversation. When a Staten Islander buys a bag of Decker Farm tomatoes instead of driving to a big-box grocery store, it reinforces something the rest of the city already enjoys: a direct line between the people growing food and the people eating it.
One caveat worth noting, about 60% of regular attendees say they forget which days markets run, so even loyal shoppers benefit from a quick calendar check before heading out.
Ready to shop local? Check the Staten Island Mall Greenmarket’s Saturday hours, grab your SNAP card if you have one, and make it part of your weekend routine, your wallet, your neighbors, and the local farms will all benefit.
Visit DOMEgroup.com or email us at properties@DOMEproperty.com.
Just Dewitt. DOME Property Management — New York City property management since 1987.