Lucha Supermercado in Soundview

As El Diario is reporting this morning, a battle royal is shaping up in the Bronx over Vornado'e attempt to evict the local Key Food supermarket, and the fight is over the threat to the health of the community: "Una nueva lucha empieza en el sur de El Bronx y esta vez tiene que ver con salvar un supermercado.Los vecinos del barrio de Soundview planean protestar la semana que viene frente a uno de los principales supermercados del barrio, el Key Food de Bruckner Boulevard, para evitar así su cierre.Líderes de la comunidad, concejales y varios vecinos han calificado el potencial cierre del supermercado como injusto, ya que la zona casi no tiene tiendas donde se pueda comprar fruta y vegetales y sus residentes padecen varias enfermedades relacionadas con una dieta pobre."


The Soundview town hall meeting was a raging success, with News Four's Lynda Baquero covering the story brilliantly on the 6 o'clock news last night-with a nice interview with CB #9 chairman Enrique Vega. Vornado hasn't seen nothing yet and we'd suggest that its stockholders, scheduled to meet in Saddlebrook, NJ, today at 12:30 at the Marriot, sell short because this company is going to be getting a serious black eye for being an enemy of the people.

And Vornado's "No Comment" lockjaw will soon have to stop. Here's El Diario's take: "El posible cierre se debe a que el dueño del centro comercial de Bruckner Boulevard, Vornado Realty and Trust, planea cobrar al supermercado 50 dólares por pie cuadrado en alquiler. Key Food —que se encuentra dentro del centro comercial— no puede pagar ese precio, dijo ayer la concejal de la zona Annabel Palma (D-El Bronx)."

The councilwoman was brilliant last night, and as she said on the news: "The closing of the Key Food will be seen as a direct attack on the Soundview community, I will do everything in my power to prevent this shameful act from taking place." Next week the community will rally in front of the store, and there will be a city hall press conference on the 28th of the month. Vornado better batten down, the ride's gonna be a bitch.