Astoria residents and lawmakers rallied outside of Target headquarters to save Key Food on Thursday, Sept. 17. Photo by Dean Moses
Astoria residents, offi cials bring fi ght to save
Key Food to Target headquarters in Manhattan
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
About two dozen Astoria
residents took the fight to save
the neighborhood’s Key Food
grocery store to Target’s headquarters
in Manhattan on
Thursday, Sept. 17.
The rally, which took place
at 521 W 25th St., is the most
recent demonstration by community
members, joined by
state Senator Jessica Ramos,
City Council candidate Tiffany
Cabán, Assembly candidate
Zohran Mamdani and Assemblyman
Brian Barnwell,
to prevent Target from taking
the place of Key Food, located
at 22-15 31st St., and to save the
union jobs it provides.
Organizer Stylianos Karolidis,
an Astoria resident, told
QNS that as someone who
cares very deeply about union
jobs and gentrification, he
decided to get involved in the
community’s work to stop the
national chain from opening a
store in Astoria.
“We wanted to come to Target’s
corporate offices here on
the West Side to let them know
that wherever they are in
New York City, we will begin
showing up,” said Karolidis.
“Because Target has been unresponsive
to us, because Target
has been unwilling to support
these union jobs. We are
preparing to work with every
single mayoral candidate and
with numerous City Council
candidates to develop a network
of politicians in New
York City who are opposed to
Target wherever they want to
go.”
At the rally, co-founder of
the Astoria Food Pantry Macaela
Sears spoke about the
neighborhood’s food crisis,
emphasizing the need they see
every day at their own food
pantry.
Cabán said that Target’s
arrival in Astoria would be
detrimental for family-owned
and small businesses.
“During the pandemic,
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | SEPT. 25-OCT. 1, 2020
small businesses throughout
the city have continued to be
devastated. They’re struggling
to keep their doors open,”
Cabán said. “When I walk
into some of the shops trying
to keep their stores open, they
literally say that this Target
would be a death note, that it
would cement their futures
— not to mention what we’ve
already talked about in terms
of food insecurity.”
Ramos, who has opposed
Target opening another storefront
in Elmhurst, said that
while the retail store offers
low prices, “all we’ve gotten is
low wages.”
“Key Food is a familyowned
business whose model
has actually allowed for living
wages with benefits, with
pensions and real compensation
that every single worker
deserves at every single workplace,”
Ramos said. “And until
Target becomes that good
actor that we expect, then
we don’t want them in our
neighborhood and we don’t
want them anywhere near
Queens.”
The fight to save Key Food,
the long time grocer on 31st
Street, has been ongoing for
some time now.
Key Food’s lease with Jenel
Real Estate expires on Oct. 1,
2020. Jenel Real Estate and
A&H Acquisitions reportedly
plan to knock down the existing
two-story structure to
build a three-story structure
housed by a Target on the second
and third floor.
They are set to lose about
150 union jobs once it closes.
When the rally concluded,
Karolidis tapped a petition
and letters addressed to Target
to their offices’ front door,
saying they will have to read
it that way.
Mamdani said this fight is
a “microcosm” of larger battles
happening now.
“Oftentimes we only take
the opposition that we can see.
It doesn’t allow us to connect
the dots and I think that we
need to not only fight power
where we see it, but also where
it lives,” Mamdani said about
protesting at Target’s headquarters.
“This is far closer
to the heart of Target than the
soon to be location is. This is
their corporate offices. We
need to ensure that this is not
something that they can’t look
away from.”
A Target spokesperson told
QNS they are excited to move
into Astoria.
“Target is excited to bring
an easy, safe and convenient
shopping experience to guests
in the Astoria area with our
new small-format store,” they
stated. “As a tenant in this
development, we would welcome
a grocery store as our
neighbor and we’ve worked
to ensure our lease does not
include restrictions around
grocery options for the community.”
Additional reporting by
Dean Moses.
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