CLINTON HILL — The Key Food on Lafayette Avenue, whose announced closure led to a heated discussion of gentrification, will officially shutter next week, employees said.
The July 11 closure will mark the end of a battle to keep the supermarket, which residents and politicians said is invaluable in a neighborhood with very few fresh food options.
"For many older residents in the neighborhood, this supermarket is the only place that is close enough for them to safely walk and buy groceries," Public Advocate Letitia James, who lives in the neighborhood, said in a statement. "It's an unfortunate abuse of power that this landlord is taking that away."
Starting July 6, the entire store will be 50 percent off in order to clear out inventory for the building's eventual demolition later this year, employees said.
Developers Slate Property Group, which bought the building last year, plan to build an eight-story condo building in its place. The new building will have 113 residential units, 20 percent of which would be affordable, and retail space on the ground floor.
Slate Principal David Schwartz said he would like to retain the grocery store in the bottom floor of the building if possible, but no plans have been finalized.
During a discussion over the fate of the store earlier this year, State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery made waves by saying "white people don't eat the way we do," adding she hoped the new store would be accessible to communities of color.
