By The TimesLedger
Pathmark has agreed to make a $400,000 payment to the “community” for being granted the right to open a badly needed supermarket at the corner of Springfield and Merrick boulevards three years ago.
We know a shakedown when we smell one and this was a shakedown. In 1995 a corrupt City Council demanded that Pathmark pay the “community” $400,000 over a period of 20 years in exchange for the zoning variance needed to open a store in southeast Queens. The money was supposed to be used to assist stores driven out of business by the supermarket. The bill mandating this hustle passed over a veto by then-mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The amount of money in question is small change for a company the size of Pathmark. It’s the principle that bothers us. When it comes to supermarkets, the people living in southeast Queens are underserved. The Pathmark was badly needed and will encourage other chain stores to invest in this part of Queens.
Local officials should have done everything possible to attract stores like Pathmark. Instead they acted like a gang of highwaymen waiting to put the squeeze on a big business for a small-minded purpose. We look forward to seeing the details of the Pathmark distribution, including the names of any business or person who will directly benefit.
