If you remember last week we had a discussion going about big box stores coming to the area with a vengeance and obliterating smaller “mom and pop” stores. We aren’t the only ones who have noticed the danger of this economic imbalance. NY1′s Rebecca Spitz has created a package about the changing face of 125th Street.
NY1 [video]
Related: Jib Jab Spoof [video] :: Urban Trust/Wal-Mart [Washington Post]
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Posted in: Business/Finance
Hugo
April 27, 2007
ha…i suppose. making do for me is getting my stuff at the bodega instead of ctown.lol. pathmark was the mothership as far as i was concerned until fairway rolled up in my backyard.
Hugo
April 27, 2007
To tie in a bit the fear of big box/mom & pop disparity and the comment made on the pothole post regarding harlemites “whining”: i think part of the resentment (and i open it to the roundtable) comes from the feeling that all this new booming, vibrant business and revamping wasn’t built for those of us who are already here but more so for those to come who would have never called harlem home just 5 years ago.a bait so to speak. the fact that native harlemites can also enjoy places like chucky cheese, nysc and (if rumors prove true) places like upcoming macy’s and espn zone is a secondary or symptomatic expectation…a ploy used by developers to make it seem that its for the community. i can certainly see the economic merits behind it. years ago there was no momentum to get these projects going and no developer in their right mind would have invested in NYSC south of 96th St. I am fully aware of this. On a personal level though it’s a bit insulting that we (the community) are the not the true catalyst of change.
It’s like “hey, the working-class, taxpaying minorities have been here all this time! not all of us are crack-users, high school drop-outs, or burdens on society!” A good portion of us looked at the drug dealing, violence, and lack of neighborhood responsibility in harlem with as just much disgust and disdain as folks watching the news from their park ave condos.
So am I supposed to be thankful that the “right” people are moving in so that now I can have decent restaurants, quality retail stores, and rebuilt streets? Wasn’t I just as deserving all that time?
HMM
April 27, 2007
hugo, i think part of it is that you and i are used to “making do” while newcomers have had their needs catered to before moving to harlem.
Hugo
April 27, 2007
I’m sure whole foods will eventually make its way up here. i guess i’m spoiled…been shopping at ctown since i was a pint-size
if there’s anything more specialized that i need, fairway is usually my choice. also, not to be disrepectful but doesn’t freshdirect deliver as late as 10pm? i remember getting orders late at night.
126th street
April 27, 2007
Sorry, but I would LOVE a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods in Harlem. This doesn’t make me love Harlem any less than anyone else. It’s annoying trying to order on and schedule Fresh Direct deliveries. I’d like to have a great grocery store nearby, with more flexible hours. Citarella closes too early, and I’d like to not HAVE to ride the train to Columbus Circle to do my last minute shopping, as I do now.
Hugo
April 27, 2007
yea, i remember also something about a foul smell as a result of a flooding issue. i guess i just didn’t see it coming this soon.
Dee
April 27, 2007
Hugo, you know that they have been having legal issues with their landlord for years.
Hugo
April 27, 2007
on the subject of mom & pop stores…it seems that Home Sweet Harlem Home is gone. walked by it yesterday and it was empty…sign was stripped and all.
Anonymous
April 26, 2007
“I’d like to see a Gap on 125th Street,” says resident. “We’ve got everything else but a Gap on 125th Street.”
Once again the media finds a Harlem resident with are narrow and limited mindset to bring forward and be the voice of the community, the “man on the street”. Wanna bet this person lives in subsidized housing of some sort, likely on public assistance, if not certainly earns minimal income.
Who needs Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods or Food Emporium or any grocery store when you have the Korean place across the street from Clinton’s office building. Why would I want to go to Ruby Foo’s or Zen Palate or even Ollie’s when I have some no-name greasy Chinese joint? Yeah, with the addition of a Gap, 125th St. will mirror 86th on the East Side.
“What we’re also seeking to do is also make sure the north-south corridors that complement 125th Street are disproportionately being set aside for local businesses from this community,” says Williams.
What exactly does this mean? Sounds like Section 8 for a private commercial business. Well I say “Right On!” Goldman pimped NYC, Chase is trying to pimp NYC as we speak, I say let the Black man do the same damn thing. I want 500′ of retail space and all the tax breaks and perks and incentives that Goldman got, that Chase will get, on a per square foot basis. I will hire a couple of people from the community and open a store. Now that’s the hard part, to think of a store because as the lady said, “125th Got Everything”.