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QUEENS WEEKLY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2019
AOC against Total Wine & More’s
potential move to College Point
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez voiced her opposition against the proposed Total
Wine & More store in College Point. Tom Williams/AP
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
is urging the New York State Liquor Authority
(SLA) to deny a license for the operation
of Total Wine & More in College Point.
Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the 14th
Congressional District in New York City
— which includes the Bronx and parts of
Queens — said she is “concerned about the
potential impacts that MCT Fine Wine &
Spirits would have on the local small business
community,” in a letter sent to Vincent
Bradley, the chairman of the NYS Liquor Authority,
on Sept. 17.
The freshman congresswoman, who
fought against Amazon from opening its second
headquarters in Long Island City, said
her district is home to many of the 350-plus
retail liquor stores that operate in Queens
and Total Wine’s rock-bottom prices would
undercut smaller neighborhood liquor merchants.
“My district enjoys many of the benefits
of a vibrant small business economy: job creation
for and by community members, socioeconomic
mobility for immigrants and new
Americans, and long-lasting relationships
between proprietors and their customers,”
Ocasio-Cortez said.
“As a large retailer with ties to a billion
dollar nationwide chain, Total Wines has access
to resources and economies of scale with
which smaller retailers could not compete.
Total Wines has a history of loss leader pricing
– selling alcohol at or below cost in order
to sell high-end products at a generous margin.
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,” she added.
The SLA received an application from
MCT New York Fine Wines & Spirits LLC on
Aug. 12 from entrepreneur Michelle Trone,
who is seeking to open a 30,000 square-foot
store at 30-02 Whitestone Expy., the former
site of Toys ‘R’ Us that has been vacant for
almost two years.
Trone is the daughter of Total Wine &
More’s chain co-owner, Congressman David
Trone of Maryland. Total Wine opened a
Long Island store in Westbury in 2017, but the
SLA denied applications in Stony Brook and
Westchester following an uprising of opposition
from local liquor merchants.
While the proposed store — which is expected
to bring more than 100 jobs to Queens
— has seen its share of opposition, Trone
has received a generous amount of support
from several Queens politicians and local organizations
and she remains hopeful that the
liquor license will be approved to open the
wine and spirits store in Flushing.
“This will give the people of Queens something
they don’t currently have from the assortment,
education, selection, and the fact
that I will be partnering with the community
through charitable organizations,” Trone
said last week. “I think overall, it will be a
benefit to the Queens community.”
Despite the early wave of support, some
politicians recently changed their stance and
have joined the fight against the proposed liquor
store.
Business merchants and members of the
nonprofit Metropolitan Package Store Association
(MetroPSA) joined state Assemblyman
Ron Kim in Flushing on Monday in
urging local legislators and the New York
State Liquor Authority (SLA) to reject the
proposed liquor store.
According to the SLA, as with all applications
for new liquor stores, Trone’s application
must go before the full board of the SLA
for a determination.
“We expect this application will be scheduled
for a regular board meeting sometime
in late November, early December,” a SLA
spokesman said.
St. Luke Church, Whitestone
Presents
FALL
FESTIVAL
October 4, 5, 6, 2019
St. Luke School Yard
Whitestone
Pick your own Pumpkin!
Friday, 10/4
5–11pm
Saturday, 10/5 2–11pm
Sunday, 10/6 2–10pm
Great Rides
Food and Snacks
DJ Entertainment
Games & Prizes
HALLOWEEN
COSTUME
CONTEST
Sunday 10/6, 4:30pm
PUMPKIN
TCH!
St. Luke’s Church Whitestone 16-34
Clintonville Street, Whitestone NY 11357
718.746.8102 stlukeswhitestone.org
/stlukeswhitestone.org
