8
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JAN. 27, 2019
ployees would bring fresh
and inexpensive fare to
Coney residents who must
now otherwise shop at
three larger, chain supermarkets,
according to the
petition’s co-organizer, who
claimed to own three apartments
in the neighborhood,
and admitted to jockeying
for a Joe’s because he said
it would increase the value
of his real estate.
“It appeals to both the
lower-middle and uppermiddle
class people, it’s
superb service, and great
quality food,” said Alex,
who declined to give his
last name and said he lives
nearby in Brighton Beach.
“I would love to see gentrifi
cation happen, because
the value of my investment
properties would go
way up.”
Alex said he and the petition’s
co-creator, who insisted
on remaining anonymous,
initially wrote it as a
joke.
But as of Jan. 17, more
than 2,600 people signed
the plea, which seeks 5,000
names, and calls for bringing
“more skinny-pants
residents” to Coney in addition
to the grocer, whose two
other Brooklyn locations —
on Court Street in Cobble
Hill, and inside Downtown’s
City Point complex — are too
far a trek from the southern
neighborhood, according to
the plea.
“The Southern Brooklyn
shoppers are tired of
taking a car, train, taxi,
or bus to other neighborhoods,”
the petition reads.
Three bigger chain supermarkets
currently hawk
groceries to Coney Islanders
— including Key Food
at Neptune Avenue and W.
36th Street, Fine Fare on
Mermaid Avenue between
W. 29th and W. 30th streets,
and Stop and Shop on
Cropsey Avenue near Bay
53rd Street — in addition
to the spate of small bodegas
that dot Surf, Mermaid,
and Neptune avenues.
The district manager of
the local Community Board
13 said the board would
welcome a Trader Joe’s —
or any business that both
stimulates the local economy
and fi lls a need in the
community.
“We look forward to any
new commercial development
coming to the neighborhood,”
said Eddie Mark.
“We need stores that will
fi ll in the services lacking
in the area.”
But some locals who
support the push for a Coney
Trader Joe’s outpost
stopped short of endorsing
the petition’s gentrifi cation
call, fearing such change
would forever alter the
neighborhood’s character.
“Trader Joe’s specifi -
cally would be a wonderful
addition to the community,
it’s just a matter of how that
petition was worded that I
had a problem with,” said
Orlando Mendez, who did
not sign the plea. “They’re
saying, ‘Let’s get rid of the
current culture; let’s wipe
the slate completely clean
and bring something different
in here.’ ”
Alex said he his co-creator
encourage gentrifi cation
because of the types
of new businesses — such
as the grocer — and people
it could bring to Coney Island,
not with a desire to
displace current residents.
“When we say support
gentrifi cation, it’s to bring
in amazing food, an amazing
vibe, to the area,” he
said. “I totally understand
what gentrifi cation does,
but at the same time when
you have money invested
in an area you want to see
it grow.”
A rep for Trader Joe’s
said the California-based
company currently has no
plans to open a Coney store.
But honchos at the grocer
are “always looking for and
considering new neighborhoods
that would be a great
fi t,” and are “so grateful”
that locals want a Coney Island
outpost, according to
Kenya Friend-Daniel.
If the company did decide
to open in the People’s
Playground, the area’s slew
of forthcoming developments
would offer ample location
options to consider.
Developer Georgica
Green Ventures’s in-theworks,
mixed-use Surf Vets
Place complex on Surf Ave.
at W. 21st Street includes
two basketball courts’
worth of retail space.
And builder Pye Properties,
which wants to redevelop
the old Shore Theater
into a hotel and spa, also
plans to create new commercial
space at the Surf
Avenue property — which
could be a great future
home for Trader Joe’s, according
to a Pye executive.
“Trader Joe’s could be
a good candidate and we
would be open to discussions,”
said Eddie Yadgarov.
Grocery magnate John
Catsimatidis — the owner
of Gristedes, Red Apple, or
D’Agostino — is also building
a three-tower development
with retail space in
Coney Island’s West End,
but said neither his brands,
nor Trader Joe’s, would be
his fi rst choice of tenant,
because he’d rather bring a
one-stop shop to the neighborhood.
“Trader Joe’s runs a
great operation, but a lot of
complaints are that people
can only buy maybe 50 percent
of their needs there,”
Catsimatidis said. “The
people that are near my development
have to buy 90
percent of their needs at a
supermarket-pharmacy.”
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Continued from page 1
THE PEOPLE’S PRODUCE: Coney Islanders hope to see aisles like
these — at a Trader Joe’s location on Court Street — grace their
stretch of Southern Brooklyn soon, circulating a petition to bring
the popular grocer to the waterfront nabe.
File photo by Stephen Brown