On Feb. 10, Burlington-based mutual aid organization Food Not Cops posted to Instagram a video of a man pouring a thick substance believed to be maple syrup on the wall next to the Marketplace Garage, where the organization formerly served daily lunch.

The video was retrieved from the Burlington Police Department, but police were unable to obtain footage from two other cameras that might have shown the man’s face. They claimed two of the four cameras were not working, according to an email shown in the post. 

“We believe it was Jeff Nick who poured maple syrup on unhoused people’s lunch spot because a trusted anonymous source close to the family confirmed it,” the Instagram post stated nearly a year after the initial incident.

Food Not Cops had been organizing their daily lunches out of the Marketplace Garage for five years when the incident occurred.

The organization describes its work as a network of neighbors organizing to meet each other’s needs outside of markets and government programs.

“Obviously, Jeff Nick’s goal was to get us to move somewhere else. A lot of people downtown wanted us to move somewhere else,” said Kason Hudman, director of operations at the Peace and Justice Center and Food Not Cops volunteer.

In summer 2025, Food Not Cops received backlash from the community regarding the location of their daily lunch program. 

On May 9, 2025, 180+ small business owners in Burlington, including Jeff Nick, penned an open letter to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak requesting the lunch program’s relocation in response to declining economic conditions.

The letter cites several issues in the downtown area since the pandemic, such as businesses closing their doors, long-term employees leaving their jobs and Burlington residents increasingly avoiding the area.

“We support efforts to feed and care for those in need. However, the free lunch program operating out of our main parking garage has had a negative impact on the area,” the letter stated. “We respectfully ask that this program be relocated to a more appropriate and secure setting — not eliminated.” 

This open letter received pushback from numerous organizations who wrote a counter letter stating that the businesses that signed failed to address the root causes of the area’s decline, which they identified as chronic housing shortages, high rent and low-wage jobs.

“I think people wanted something easy to blame for what had happened to the economic conditions downtown, and [the lunch service] was something that was easy and noticeable,” Hudman said. 

The controversy caused Food Not Cops to move their lunch services to City Hall Park, a move that was made reluctantly, Hudman said. 

“It seemed absurd to a lot of us when a lot of these economic arguments were being made about us needing to move,” Hudman said. “The mission is always just to feed people.”

Food Not Cops voted collectively to move to City Hall Park without city approval, Hudman said, despite being offered $10,000 to aid in their relocation, according to a June 2025 WCAX3 article.

“City Hall Park was not considered a good location [by city officials] when we were in these conversations. A lot of the time, City Hall Park was thought of as still too close to downtown,” Hudman said.

He noted that since its relocation, officials seem content with their move and have not seen any further incidents with Jeff Nick.

The Food Not Cops post about Nick came almost a year after the incident had originally taken place. The decision to post about this incident arose from the election season and the contentious race between his son, Ryan Nick and incumbent Marek Broderick. 

“I think they got the footage and realized that it didn’t prove anything, so it wasn’t worth publicizing until it became clear that if Ryan Nick had won his city council race, it would have been Jeff Nick essentially getting a seat on City Council, which was the fear,” Hudman said.

During Ryan Nick’s campaign for Ward 8, many voters criticized his father and his real estate company. 

The UVM Students for Justice in Palestine Instagram posted additional accusations about his father’s ties to the DHS’ Technology and Training Center in Williston following Food Not Cops’ post.

Ryan and Jeff Nick have not responded to any interview requests. 

Ryan posted a response to Food Not Cops’ claims on Instagram, but did not directly address the accusations towards his father. 

“I can only speak for myself – my actions and my values,” Ryan Nick stated in the post. He reiterated his hope and commitment to building connections between the city government and the mutual aid groups.

Since its relocation, Food Not Cops has continued to serve lunch daily from 1 to 2 p.m. in City Hall Park, continuing its now six-year streak of daily volunteer-coordinated service.