By John Tozzi
Eckerd at 252-17 Northern Blvd. closed at the beginning of January. Renovations soon began to turn the space into a Staples. Prescriptions previously filled at Eckerd have been transferred to the CVS in Douglaston, half a mile west, but some say that is too far for elderly people who may not have access to transportation.”There are a lot of old people in Little Neck and they really relied on the pharmacy,” said Roc Waters, a retiree who has lived in Little Neck 20 years.Waters said Little Neck is becoming a commuter town without many people in the area to support businesses during the day.”There's nothing here,” he said. “There's nothing here to sustain the populace service-wise.”The same building that was home to Eckerd used to house Mr. China, a tableware store. That storefront has been vacant for more than a year.Bob Nobile, president of the Little Neck Pines Civic Association, also lamented the dearth of pharmacies in his neighborhood now that Eckerd has gone.”There's nothing left in Little Neck unless you go to the [Long Island Expressway],” where there is a Duane Reade on the corner of Marathon Parkway, he said. “I don't understand. You go to some neighborhoods, they have four or five. We don't have any drugstores.”Many Little Neck residents say they stay in their community because they are able to walk to stores, while neighbors across the county line in Nassau have to drive more often to shopping centers. But keeping local stores in the neighborhood has not always been easy. For years the community was without a supermarket after Grand Union on Northern Boulevard went bankrupt in 2000. After a campaign led by Nobile flooded Stop & Shop with thousands of letters, the chain opened in the former Grand Union site in 2003. Unlike many larger Stop & Shop stores, however, there is no pharmacy counter in the supermarket.On the other side of the community, near Douglaston Plaza, residents were dismayed last summer to learn that the Waldbaum's in that shopping center may move after its lease expires in 2010. The landlord applied to the city for permission to put an electronics store in the Waldbaum's space.Reach reporter John Tozzi by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 174.
