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Sept. 4-Sept. 10, 2020
ALSO COVERING ELMHURST, JACKSON HEIGHTS, LONG ISLAND CITY, MASPETH, MIDDLE VILLAGE, REGO PARK, SUNNYSIDE
ASTORIANS RALLY TO SAVE KEY FOODBY JACOB KAYE
Community leaders rallied support
to keep an Astoria Key Food grocery
store open beyond the end of its lease on
Oct. 1, and to prevent a Target from settling
in its place.
Joined by a handful of elected officials,
about 60 Astorians came out
to show their support for the grocery
store, located at 22-15 31st St., and the
union jobs it provides on Thursday,
Aug. 27.
“Our communities have been under
attack by corporations for a very long
time,” said state Senator Jessica Ramos.
“We want to protect the 150 jobs
of these essential workers who showed
up to work every day at the peak of the
pandemic, putting their lives at risk for
us.”
In addition to Ramos, state Senator
Michael Gianaris and Zohran Mamdani,
who recently won the Democratic
primary for Astoria’s state Assembly
seat, called for support for the Key Food
on Thursday.
“We have a system and a society and
a government that is stripping the dignity
of its working class people to give
more and more to those who already
have too much,” Mamdani said.
Rally-goers shared concerns that
without Key Food, residents would lose
access to a vital grocery store at a time
when about 20 percent of New York City
residents are out of work.
Macaela Sears, the co-founder of the
Astoria Food Pantry, said that the food
crisis in Astoria is real. The night before
her pantry opens, a line begins to
form around the block, she said.
“Our neighbors are spending all
night on the sidewalk because they’re
afraid they won’t have enough food for
their families,” Sears said. “Like it or
not, this is the backdrop for this Target,
which has seen record sales during this
pandemic, bulldozing into our community
and forcing out this Key Food and
150 unionized jobs with it.”
Key Food’s lease with Jenel Real
Estate expires on Oct. 1, 2020. The real
estate company, in collaboration with
A&H Acquisitions, reportedly plans
to knock down the existing two-story
structure and build a three-story structure
housed by a Target on the second
and third floor.
Niether Jenel Real Estate nor A&H Acquisitions
could be reached for comment.
Queens lawmakers have spent the
past several months writing letters
and advocating on behalf of the local
grocer.
“Key Food’s employees have gone
Photo by Dean Moses
above and beyond through this crisis,
to make sure northern Astoria has access
to nutritious food,” Councilman
Costa Constantinides said in May. “The
only thanks they’ve given is a warning
that they’ll be out of a job by October,
if not sooner. The landlord must work
on a short-term solution to keep Key
Food serving our community, as well as
truly work with them to keep them in
northern Astoria.”
Vol. 8 No. 36 36 total pages
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