4 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 2, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
сoronavirus
Family-owned Key Food remains committed to
serving Astoria community despite its uncertain fate
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Key Food Astoria — the family
owned store that’s being
pushed out to make room for a
Target — is committed to serving
the Astoria community by
increasing its inventory during
the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We take the needs of the communities
our stores serve seriously,
and the needs during this
pandemic are no diff erent,” said
Angela Stefanidis, the manager
of the Key Food. “Key Food
has been feeding Astoria families
like my own for over 40 years,
and we will continue to serve
them until we all get through
this, and for many years to come.
We’re contacting our distributors
every few hours and letting
them know which products our
community needs the most, and
we’ve been using supplemental
suppliers when needed.”
According to Key Food
Astoria — located on 22-15
31st St. — nearly 100 of their
employees, who are members of
UFCW Local 1500 union, have
been working around the clock
to take stock of what food items
are being purchased the most to
prevent shortages through “proactive
ordering.”
Store management has been
closing at 8 p.m. to do a deep
cleaning of the store each night,
and opening at 6:30 a.m. each
morning for a senior-shopping
hour, which runs until 7:30 a.m.
Man-Dell Foods, the owner of
Key Food Astoria, has been paying
employees 10 percent above
their regular rate since last week
and will do so until May 2.
“Our members throughout the
city are signing up for extra, and
overnight shift s to make sure
our stores are stocked, clean, and
ready to serve the communities
they are in,” said Robert W.
Newell Jr., president of UFCW
Local 1500. “We’re extremely
proud of our members every day
for the work they do, but especially
during critical times like
these. I just hope all the communities
never forget what our
members did when this crisis is
over. Our members have always
been and will always be a staple
in their communities.”
Photo courtesy of Key Food
Astoria
Astoria’s elected offi cials rallied
to save Key Food Astoria in May
2019, aft er the building’s landlord,
Jenel Management, fi led
demolition permits for the property
in order to build a three-story
Target at the site.
“Target is not only trying to
open one but two stores in my
district, attempting to essentially
whitewash and do away with
mom-and-pop shops, including
a Key Food supermarket that our
neighborhood has depended on
for decades,” state Senator Jessica
Ramos said in May.
Th e store’s ownership and
employees continue to rally to
save the food store, as its lease
is set to expire at the end of
October. Th ey maintain that
their landlord hasn’t off ered lease
terms that will allow Key Food
Astoria to return aft er the lease
is up.
Photo courtesy of Key Food Astoria
Councilman Costa
Constantinides thanked Key
Food Astoria for their service
during the coronavirus crisis.
“Th is pandemic will have
serious implications on our
local economy, at a time when
small businesses in Astoria
are already experiencing closures
at an unprecedented rate,”
Constantinides stated. “Small
businesses that are stepping up
during this crisis are precisely
the neighbors we need, and
I thank Key Food for keeping
Astorians fed during this time.”
Assemblywoman Aravella
Simotas thanked the grocery
store for giving the community
stability during this time.
“Big-box stores throughout the
city have closed, leaving communities
without resources,
but our small businesses have
stepped up where the nationwide
chains have failed,” Simotas
said. “Th ank you to our neighborhood
supermarkets like Key
Food Astoria and the union
workers it employs who are staying
open to give our community
stability during a time of uncertainty.”
Senate Deputy Leader Michael
Gianaris commended the store
for raising their workers’ regular
hourly pay.
“Supermarket workers are
stepping up to serve our communities
and provide an essential
service during this crisis.
Th e workers at Key Food
Astoria are our neighbors and
friends, continuing to work each
day to make sure families are
being fed,” Gianaris said. “Th is
family-owned store has committed
to compensating workers
by raising their regular hourly
pay 10 percent during this pandemic,
standing by their workers
through diffi cult times. Th ey all
deserve our thanks.”
City to release 300 nonviolent inmates on Rikers due to COVID-19 pandemic
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
Aft er weeks of dire warnings from
jail reform advocates, the independent
Lippman Commission, the Legal Aid
Society and the Board of Correction that
individuals incarcerated on Rikers Island
are especially vulnerable to the COVID-
19 virus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
300 nonviolent, elderly inmates would be
released from the prison complex.
“It’s a very complicated dynamic, it’s
one that we’ve literally never dealt with
before,” de Blasio said during a March
24 press briefi ng. “I’m listening to all the
input, but I want to make very clear that
I’m making the ultimate decisions, taking
the advice from all these diff erent sources
and doing what I think is the right thing
for this city.”
with pre-existing conditions.
Island to ensure the safety of all correction
Th e Lippman Commission explained
While the city will release 300 in the
offi cers, employees and inmates at
that prisoners are especially vulnerable
coming days, thousands will remain in
the complex.
to the spread of diseases and illnesses like
the dilapidated facilities on Rikers Island.
In a letter to the mayor, the City Council
COVID-19 due to the lack of sanitary
Councilman Robert Holden was joined
members pointed out that because correction
products and handwashing, lack of access
by 27 of his colleagues and the Correction
offi cers are the only people currently
to health care and tight physical quarters
Offi cers Benevolent Association Tuesday
entering and exiting the island on a daily
that fuel contagion. More than 500 people
in calling on the mayor to institute a
basis, they are highly likely to continue
at Rikers are 55 years old or more, many
COVID-19 testing facility on Rikers
spreading the virus on Rikers and elsewhere.
Th e letter calls for the establishment
of a testing facility on Rikers as well
as a screening station to evaluate everyone
for potential symptoms of COVID-19
as they enter or leave the island.
“Our Correction Offi cers put their
health on the line each and every day,
and they alone bear the burden of
unknowingly spreading the highly contagious
virus to their colleagues and
inmates,” Holden said. “Th ey can also
spread the virus in their home communities
when they leave Rikers Island
each day. We must provide them reassurance
by working to test every offi cer
as soon as possible to ensure their safety,
the safety of other employees, the safety
of inmates and the safety of all New
Yorkers.”
Correction Officers Benevolent
Association President Elias Hasamudeen
agreed that a testing facility is crucial.
“We greatly appreciate the leadership
of New York City Council Member
Robert Holden and the growing number
of Council Members who are joining
us in this fi ght and advocating for this
vital facility to help keep our offi cers safe,”
Husamudeen said.
Photo by Ken Maldanado
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