Food Emporium

Community Board 4 last night approved a new greenmarket for West 43rd Street between Ninth and 10th avenues. The market will consist of six 10-by-10-foot tents adjacent to Manhattan Plaza Park, and will be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., weather permitting, from July 1 to Nov. 18.

There were several stipulations that the board called for, chief among them that the greenmarket sell no flowers or pies. Several board members were concerned that local small floral shops would suffer in the face of the greenmarket's wide array of botanical delights; others wanted to protect the Little Pie Company, a homegrown pie company that in recent years has expanded to two other locations in the city.

The greenmarket's management agreed to moratorium on pies and flowers without a peep, though, and the nearby Food Emporium's claims that the greenmarket would eat into its profits--and thereby threaten its employees' jobs and the city's tax base--were debated and then ignored. (Interestingly enough, when Community Board 6 recently approved a greenmarket on the Upper East Side, one its the chief opponents was grocer Eli Zabar, who runs a nearby food store; his protestations were also to no avail.)

The greenmarket still needs to get the nod from the city's Street Activities Permit Office, which should be a shoo-in.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

Of the food procurement palaces in Union Square/NYU Village, where's a budget-conscious freshman to shop for produce that hearkens back to hometown heartland prices?

Well, nowhere. But! From a quick survey of prices, it seems that a savvy shopper would have to hit the three biggest local stores to get a cross-the-board deal.  read more »

Now, for a bit of truly useful service journalism.

Ok, so we've covered local television news crews, overly-friendly staff, and, sadly, lack of cheap wine. (Although the store is stocked on Guinness for the big holiday).

But who are these crazed shoppers, anyway?

"[With] Whole Foods, Garden of Eden, Food Emporium, and now Trader Joe's, I'm excited," said Peter, a self-described "foodie," who lives at nearby Irving Place. And what got him so excited? Sliced Papaya in White Grape Juice.

"It's so cheap," shrieked Katie, who clutched one bag from Whole Foods and two from Trader Joe's. Her personal favorite: Frozen Vegetable Enchiladas.

An elderly couple visiting from Massachusetts, who "go to the one in Cambridge all the time" bought plain pizza dough to make for their grandson. They're so proud that he now lives near a Trader Joe's.

But not eveyone left in good spirits. One man was so flustered by the crowds that he refused to speak with The Real Estate.

"I've been in there for a half hour and didn't buy anything, he said. "I'm not going to stand here and talk to you."

Is the backlash already beginning?  read more »

- Mickey Ehrlich Previous: Trader Joe's: No Chuck Previous: Trader Joe's: Rival Gangs Previous: Trader Joe's: The Crew Previous: Trader Joe's: Morning Rush

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