14 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Astoria residents, offi cials bring fi ght to save
Key Food to Target headquarters in Manhattan
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
About two dozen Astoria residents took
the fi ght to save the neighborhood’s Key
Food grocery store to Target’s headquarters
in Manhattan on Th ursday, Sept. 17.
Th e 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
Tiff any 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, 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
hasopposed 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
f a m i l y - o w n e d
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
Photos by Dean Moses
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 twostory
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.
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
