By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — The CEO of Fairway Market ended months of speculation when he confirmed the supermarket chain will open a branch on the Upper East Side at a Community Board 8 meeting Wednesday.
The supermarket is in the final stages of negotiations for a lease at the former Barnes & Noble location at 240 E. 86th St., said CEO Howard Glickerberg at the meeting.
"The one thing the East Side is missing is a good grocery," Glickerberg said.
Neighbors were mostly concerned with how quickly the store would open at the 60,000-square-foot space. Glickerberg said that the store could open within the year.
The new store will create 300 union jobs, he said.
The space between Second and Third avenues was left vacant by its previous tenants when Barnes & Noble moved to a new location and Circuit City went out of business.
