Bronx Terminal Market: RIP

As Metro reports, today is the last day of operation for the Bronx Terminal Market whose wholesalers are being replaced by the Gateway Mall. This turn of events is the culmination of a spirited though unsuccessful battle on behalf of the BTM and it saddens us that many of these establishments, after being split up and offered inadequate compensation, may go out of business.

Reporter Patrick Arden talks to a couple of the merchants who are doing their best to relocate but are uncertain about whether they can survive apart from the other vendors. Complicating matters is that in the Bronx especially, space is quite limited:

“We didn’t find enough space in the Bronx,” said Ricardo Duarte, who started Cuba Tropical 28 years ago with his son, Omar. “Now we’ll have 30,000 square feet — and no parking.” He laughed ruefully, and then his eyes misted over. He’s had to move part of his operation to New Jersey.

Stanley Mayer, the head of the merchants association, has found space nearby and we hope his optimistic prediction turn out to be true:

“It’s not over yet,” he added. “You won’t know until some time goes by to see if it’s going to work. A year from now, we’ll all know. If everybody’s still in business, I guess we’re OK.”