As most everyone knows by now, the Cherry Street Pathmark store closed in the waning days of 2012, leaving thousands of residents without a full-service grocery store. Yesterday the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council sent out an email blast updating its efforts to fill the fresh-food gap on the Lower East Side.
On Monday, Two Bridges and its consultant, Urbane Development LLC, met with Sam Martin, the head of Pathmark parent company A&P. The meeting took place at the company’s headquarters in Montvale, New Jersey. According to the email, the A&P team made it clear “they are sensitive to the void the departure of the Cherry Street Pathmark leaves in the Lower East Side/Two Bridges community, both from a food access and community facility perspective.”
Pathmark agreed to help Two Bridges with a “Community Food Assessment Shopping Study” they’re conducting. They’ll assist by “providing historical pricing data on select market basket of items that will act as a baseline for a neighborhood food price index.” The index will be part of a “Two Bridges Grocery Guide,” that will be published in the spring.
“The most significant aspect of the meeting,” said Two Bridges Neighborhood Council President Victor Papa,” was the enthusiasm both organizations expressed for maintaining an open dialogue about A&P’s interest in playing a role in the Two Bridges community in the future. For that, they have the community’s full support.”
In September, Pathmark announced that the grocery and an adjacent pharmacy would be closing to make way for a “large scale residential development.” The company is leaving open the possibility of returning to Cherry Street once the project is completed. Although it’s widely assumed that Gary Barnett of Extell Development is preparing to put up a very large residential complex on the site, there’s been no confirmation of that.
