Brooklyn Borough President

BOROUGH PRESIDENT MARKOWITZ CUTS RIBBON FOR NEW FOODTOWN IN BEDFORD STUYVESANT

Photographs by Kathryn Kirk

In photo from left to right: State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, State Assemblymember Annette Robinson, Commissioner for New York City Small Business Services Robert Walsh, President of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation Colvin Grannum, Councilmember Al Vann, Borough President Marty Markowitz, Board Member of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation Joe Sitt, President of Foodtown Sydney Katz, Foodtown Vice Presidents Noah and Dan Katz, and Store Manager Tony Rosado celebrate the ribbon cutting.

On Wednesday October 13, Borough President Marty Markowitz, representatives from the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and local officials cut the ribbon at Bedford Stuyvesant’s new Super Foodtown. The grocery chain agreed to a 25-year lease this July on the space previously occupied by Pathmark in Fulton Street’s Restoration Plaza.

“Bedford Stuyvesant residents deserve the best and, in terms of supermarkets, it doesn’t any get better than Foodtown,” said Borough President Marty Markowitz. “By building their New York City Flagship store in Bedford Stuyvesant, Foodtown is showing that community and its residents the respect they deserve. I have every expectation that this store will be the most successful in their chain, because there are no more loyal patrons than those in Bedford Stuyvesant.”

Foodtown employs over 850 associates in 13 stores throughout New York City. In Bedford Stuyvesant, the new store has hired over 120 associates from the neighborhood. The Super Foodtown is only part of a larger effort to revitalize Central Brooklyn. The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, who was instrumental in bringing Foodtown to the neighborhood, is committed to strengthening the local community through business development, arts programs, youth education and more. Besides the new Foodtown store, Restoration Plaza houses a Duane Reade, The Billie Holiday Theatre, The Skylight Gallery, the Youth Arts Academy, and branches of Washington Mutual, Chase Manhattan and Citibank.