A Home Depot isn't opening on Ditmars Boulevard, despite what that sign you saw said.
Someone is posting fake "Coming Soon" signs on empty storefronts along the busy Astoria street, with at least two spotted in recent weeks advertising incoming chain stores that aren't actually opening.
"Someone who has a lot of time on their hands," said Sal Barretta, the manager at Alba's Pizza at Ditmars Boulevard and 37th Street.
The pizzeria owns the space next door, at 36-16 Ditmars Blvd., a former hardware store that's currently empty. Someone recently put up three signs on the window saying a Home Depot was opening there soon, Barretta said.
It was first spotted on the neighborhood message board Astorians.com, where several members questioned the authenticity of the announcement, since the store space seems too small to fit a Home Depot.
Remnants of the "Coming Soon" signs, with the hardware store's iconic orange logo, were still visible Friday morning.
"We scrapped them off," Barretta said. "It's not true."
The space is actually being leased to the owners behind Uncle Jack's Steakhouse, which has locations in Manhattan and Bayside, he added.
Home Depot has no plans to open an Astoria location, a rep for the company confirmed Friday.
This is the second time in the last several weeks that an empty store was tagged with a phony business poster: someone put an authentic-looking sign saying a Burger King was set to open in the window of 35-02 Ditmars Blvd., the space that was home to the now-closed Okeanos Greek restaurant.
Local blog Give Me Astoria posted a photo of the sign on its Facebook page earlier this month, which includes the Burger King logo.
"It happened like 10 days ago," said the owner of the building, who declined to give her name but confirmed that the fast food giant is not opening in the space.
She said the sign went up over night, and she found out about it the next morning when she got a phone call asking about the incoming Burger King.
"We took it off right away," she said. "People have nothing better to do."
What does it all mean? Is it a commentary on the gentrification of Astoria, or just someone messing with us? If you're the prankster behind this fake poster campaign, drop us an email or leave a comment below.
