HUDSON HEIGHTS — Hundreds of locals gathered Tuesday night to discuss ways to save an Associated Supermarket that has served the neighborhood for more than three decades following news that the space was set to become a Walgreens.
More than 400 people packed P.S. 187's auditorium to plan next steps for protesting and pressuring Walgreens officials to stop their plan to take over the lease at 592 Fort Washington Ave.
"I have never seen a community rally like this before," said state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, one of several local and citywide politicians who attended the meeting.
Community Board 12 has collected more than 5,000 signatures on a petition launched in early January to save the supermarket, board chairman Shah Ally said. Residents have also launched a Facebook page and produced a video with interviews of people talking about what Associated means to the community.
Board members encouraged meeting-goers to contact Walgreens' customer service, as well as the management office of Associated's landlord, Benenson Capital Partners, LLC.
Members also provided residents with general phone numbers and e-mail addresses for both groups, as well as the cellphone number of Benenson's managing directory, Gary Sedoruk.
The board also created the hashtag #SaveOurStore to draw attention to the issue on Twitter and for residents who couldn't attend the meeting to get updates on the effort.
The Associated is not the only grocery store under threat of becoming a big-box store, officials said.
The Liberato Supermarket at 3900 Broadway is also on the verge of losing its lease and becoming a Walgreens, Espaillat said. He said he's also been talking with Walgreens and the state Attorney General's office about saving that store.
Associated's franchise owner, Oswald Rodriguez, was unable to renew his lease before it expired on Dec. 31, 2015, and is continuing to operate beyond the end of his lease in the hope it can be saved.
Rodriguez said he met with Benenson Capital Partners, LLC three years before his lease expired and was told then that it would not be renewed. The management company opted to rent the space to Walgreens without giving Rodriguez a chance to work out a new lease, he said.
Benenson Capital Partners, LLC and Walgreens did not return a request for comment.
Rodriguez was ordered to appear in Manhattan Civil Supreme Court last month to explain why he stayed beyond his lease. His next court date is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 9:30 a.m.
The board will present all community feedback to the landlord at that time, Ally said.
In the meantime, local officials urged Walgreens to be a good corporate citizen.
“Good community is defined by good schools, good neighbors, good parks, good services,” said Liz Ritter, president of the Hudson Heights Owners' Coalition, a local co-op board.
“I don’t know about you, but if I was looking for a place to live, I’m not so sure I would want to live in a place that doesn’t have a good supermarket for me to do my daily shopping.”