HUNTS POINT — The Hunts Point Meat Market Cooperative has received $3.45 million to help keep it functional in case of a prolonged power outage.
The market received the money as a capital funding grant from the City Council, and it will go towards installing emergency generators at the facility.
The market was built in 1972 and now takes up more than 60 acres of space, but it still lacks emergency backup power equipment.
Andrew Sussman, chairman of the Co-Op and president of Plymouth Beef Company, described the generators in a statement as an important way to help modernize the market.
"Without a reliable source of emergency backup power, every one of the businesses here could see its entire inventory wiped out overnight, disrupting the city and thousands of businesses’ affordable food supply," he said.
The market employs roughly 2,400 people, and it provides more than half of the metro area with food, according to Councilman Rafael Salamanca, who helped secure the grant.
“The ability to purchase and install two back-up generators will ensure the market can operate even in emergency situations," he said in a statement, "which is very important considering they supply over 70 percent of our metro with fresh foods.”
