Queens lawmakers rescind support for
planned College Point mega liquor store
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Nearly 30 Queens elected
officials have rescinded their
support for a mega wine and
liquor store in College Point,
after learning that the company
is allegedly a multi-billion
dollar retailer and not a local,
independently owned business
as they were led to believe.
Thirty-six city, state and
federal lawmakers, including
28 from the borough,
said that the addition of Total
Wine & More would threaten
the livelihood of mom and
pop shops in the area. Many
of the officials who initially
supported the proposal have
walked away after learning
the supposed truth about the
company.
In September, residents
got word that the State Liquor
Authority (SLA) was considering
an application from
31-year-old Michelle Trone,
founder of Total Wine &
More and daughter of Maryland
Congressman David
Trone. The company’s founder
planned to open a 30,000
square-foot store at the site of
a former Toys ‘R’ Us at 30-02
Whitestone Expwy.
Michelle Trone applied
to operate MCT New York
Fine Wines & Spirits LLC
as a separate entity from all
other stores operating under
the trade name Total Wine
& More. Many local business
owners in the area feared that
their stores would succumb to
the megastore’s presence.
In a written statement to
QNS, Trone said that the Metro
Package Store Association,
“one of the most powerful lobbying
groups in the state of
New York,” put pressure on
the lawmakers in question.
“My store is not a multibillion
dollar retailer — it
is an independent, womanowned
business. New York
state law mandates that package
stores are operated as
independent businesses, and
entrepreneurs are restricted
to holding just one off-premise
license to sell wine and
distilled spirits. My store
will follow this law. I will use
the trade name Total Wine
& More, but my store will be
operated independently from
other stores with this name.
I have applied to the SLA for
a license in Queens that will
The proposed location for Total Wine & More is located at 30-02 Whitestone Exwy.
be operated by me and me
alone,” Trone said.
When she first rolled out
her proposal, Trone assured
owners and lawmakers that
consumers would only visit her
store “three to six times a year
to stock up for an occasion, parties,
holidays or an event.”
“I believe the community
in Queens needs both of these
types of stores. There is also,
historically, looking at other
Total Wines before and after
they open, the number of
stores around it do not go out
of business,” Trone said in
September.
According to Trone, the
proposed store would have
WiFi, wines and spirits educational
content and customer
classes led by industry experts.
The owner said that the
shop would bring about 175
jobs to Queens, with 75 percent
of them being full-time
positions
But critics of the plan did
not buy Trone’s reasoning
that the megastore and smaller
liquor stores could coexist.
“Total Wine would be a
total disaster for small businesses
in western Queens
and I urge the State Liquor
Authority to reject its application,”
said state Senator
Michael Gianaris. “I stand
with small business owners
to fight for a stronger community
and against further
intrusions from anti-competitive
businesses that prey on
our small businesses.”
Flushing Assemblyman
Ron Kim also doubled down
on his opposition after initially
supporting Trone’s proposal.
On Sept. 17, Kim joined
Flushing small business
merchants and the nonprofit
Metropolitan Package Store
Association (MetroPSA) in
urging the SLA to reject plans
to open the megastore.
“There are already over
350 package stores in Queens.
Almost every one of those
stores is run by a ‘mom
and pop’ owner who lives in
the same community and
operates right on their main
street. Every one of those
‘mom and pop’ proprietors
will have their very existence
threatened by the arrival of
big-box wine,” Kim said.
On the day of the protest,
Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez sent a letter to
New York State Liquor Authority
Chairman Vincent
Bradley raising concerns
that Total Wine has “access
to resources and economics
Photo via Google Maps
of scales with which smaller
retailers could not compete.”
“Our small businesses
would not be able to compete
with such practices and it
would be devastating to the
largely immigrant community
that is currently employed
at many of these stores,” Ocasio
Cortez wrote in the letter.
According to the Metro
Package Store Association,
the megastore project would
carry a $10 million bank loan
“far in excess of the means of a
typical young New York entrepreneur.”
Only startup companies
with “very significant”
backing from the corporate
financial world could qualify
for a loan of that amount.
Liquor store owners like
Tone Sinclaire, owner of The
Wine Room in Forest Hills,
and Dennis Hwang, whose
family owns a liquor store
in Jamaica, have spoken on
the impact that Total Wines
would have on smaller shops
in Queens.
“When we applied for our
license, the SLA asked us the
square footage of the store,
and they aren’t giving us a license
for a 10,000 square-feet
store, they aren’t going to give
us that. So how were they Total
Wine able to get a 30,000
square foot store and receive
a license?” Sinclaire said.
“New York City is supposed
to be the land of opportunity for
everybody and it’s going to hurt
to get that opportunity taken
away in a flash,” Hwang added.
Below is a complete list
of elected officials who have
come out against the plan to
open the College Point store.
Queens representatives are
marked with an asterisk (*).
Senators
• Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.*
• Michael N. Gianaris*
• Todd Kaminsky
• John C. Liu*
• Jessica Ramos*
• James Sanders Jr.*
• Toby Ann Stavisky*
Assembly
Members
• Stacey Pheffer Amato*
• Jeffrion L. Aubry*
• Michael Benedetto
• Edward C. Braunstein*
• Vivian E. Cook*
• Catalina Cruz*
• Michael DenDekker*
• Andrew Hevesi*
• Ron Kim*
• Michael LiPetri
• David G. McDonough
• Melissa Miller
• Michael Miller*
• Michael Montesano
• Anthony H. Palumbo
• Andrew P. Raia
• Daniel Rosenthal*
• Aravella Simotas*
• Michele Titus*
• David I. Weprin*
• City Council Members
• Adrienne Adams*
• Costa Constantinides*
• Mark Gjonaj
• Robert F. Holden*
• Peter Koo*
• Rory I. Lancman*
• James Van Bramer*
Congress
Members
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez*
• Grace Meng*
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@qns.
com or by phone at (718) 260-
2583.
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