will eat into their profi ts and community service
Farm Shop Deli in Park Slope has been around for two decades. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | NOV. 5 - NOV. 11, 2021 31
is coming. Because they’re
going to, if not destroy,
they’re going to modify the
bodegas. Bodegas, if they
don’t disappear, they will be
kind of the daily sandwich
kind of thing, you go to buy
lottos, that kind of thing, but
the grocery part will not be
as strong there.”
Ten years ago, Bello said,
taxi services — not just yellow
cabs, but private companies
who riders would call
when they needed a ride —
were an integral part of the
fabric of New York City, a
longtime and iconic part of
its streets. But the advent of
cheaper ride-hailing apps
like Uber and Lyft turned
that upside down.
“They had capital, they
were the famous people in
our parades, they were on
every corner of the city,” he
said. “And they disappeared.
There are a few here and
there, they’ve even tried putting
out an app, but they kind
of disappeared in the influence,
in the numbers, and we
all use Uber or Lyft.”
“That is coming, it’s upon
us.”
Members of the New York
Taxi Workers Alliance have
been gathering outside City
Hall every day since September,
protesting what they call
a lackluster plan proposed by
the city in March to relieve
crushing debt accrued when
medallion prices soared and
made worse when ride-hailing
apps changed the fabric
of the business. Many of
those drivers have been on a
hunger strike since Oct. 20.
Needs not met by software
While they’ve expanded
quickly, Bello noted that
most of the apps are sticking
to the same areas within
the city – Manhattan, though
most don’t broach the island’s
northernmost neighborhoods,
parts of Queens
like Astoria and Long Island
City, and Brooklyn neighborhoods
like Williamsburg and
Downtown Brooklyn.
“I understand, it’s lowhanging
fruit, you want to go
where there’s higher income,
better users of technology
and whatnot,” Bello said.
Mubarez said the bodegas
in those areas are the ones
most likely to take a blow to
business as the apps expand
and become more popular —
and those stores are also the
ones that were already struggling
with fewer customers
and less revenue during the
pandemic.
“When you’re talking
about food deserts and lowincome
neighborhoods, I
don’t think these websites
accept EBT or food stamps or
anything like that,” he said.
“Again, it’s not going into the
neighborhoods the bodegas
are serving.”
A large number of corner
stores are immigrant-owned
and operated, and they’re a
cornerstone for many families,
Mubarez said.
“They’re coming here,
they’re looking for a job,
owners of bodegas are looking
for people to hire,” he
said. “It’s a simple job, but it
pays well, and it comes with
enough work to keep you
busy. If you’re talking about
specific Yemeni immigrants,
that’s the only option they
have. They barely know the
language, they don’t know
what to do, and their cousin
or their brother has a store,
and it’s the first thing they
jump into.”
Bello used one of the apps
after he stayed overnight in
Williamsburg recently, he
said, and he was impressed.
“In 14 minutes, I got my
product,” he said. “I lost, I
lost the game. The only thing
that could be different from
that experience is that the
guy that is coming from the
bodega, I know the guy, and
that is powerful.”
“The sandwiches, the
coffee, the gossip,” he said.
“You go to the bodega to
know what’s going on on the
corner, right, there’s a community
component. How do
you create a substitution for
that? Maybe I’m a romantic,
but the bodega is part of the
fabric of New York.”
Jay Son, who owns Green
Ivy Organic in Gowanus,
isn’t too concerned about the
grocery delivery apps.
The store, which offers
an array of fresh fruits,
vegetables, and fresh flowers,
is slightly larger than a
regular bodega, and is only a
block away from the R-train
subway stop. Park Slopers
headed home from work like
to stop in after they get off
the train, he said.
Son thinks that the grocery
delivery apps don’t carry
as many items as his store
does. He also believes that
customers like to pick out
groceries for themselves and
enjoy the human interaction.
“People still wanna come
and check out the products,”
Son said. “And then some
people enjoy shopping. This
is real life. Those apps aren’t
real life. People want to come
and talk to the cashier about
their day.”
‘The sleeping giant’
Mubarez said bodegas are
hardy, but not invulnerable —
and he hopes the companies
themselves or the city will
take action to protect them.
“I’m not going to say we’re
not worried, I’m getting a lot
of people who are sending me
these links, that’s why I’ve
heard of JOKR,” Mubarez
said. “They have these maps
of like, coverage areas that
they have, and whenever they
come out the deli owner sends
them to me, he’s like ‘This
is in my area, what should I
do?’” “We have to make sure
they’re taking our people into
consideration, if they’re not,
they’re facing the sleeping giant
who is no longer sleeping.”
Next week’s installment
of The Race to Deliver series
will focus on real estate and
transit impacts of the grocery
delivery apps.
THE RACE TO DELIVER
/QNS.COM
