Chelsea Activists Ask Gristedes To Re-Enter Food Assistance Program

CHELSEA, NY — A group of Chelsea activists are pleading with the Gristedes supermarket chain to start accepting food vouchers for low-income moms and their young children after the chain, run by billionaire John Catsimatidis, stopped participating in the food assistance program last year.

The New York City-based chain left the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, more commonly known by its acronym WIC, in August 2016. The program gives federal money to states to help pregnant and new moms purchase food for themselves and their young children.

A group of Chelsea activists, led by Italo Medelius, are now petitioning Gristedes to re-enter the program, in large part because of its prominence in the Chelsea neighborhood. There are three Gristedes stores within several blocks of each other, located at 307 W. 26th St., 221 Eighth Ave. and 225 Ninth Ave

"Our belief that if you're going to have a monopoly in the neighborhood, they do have a certain responsibility in feeding the ppl in the neighborhood that are beneficiaries as WIC," Medelius told Patch.

The petition, which so far has garnered more than 250 signatures, is calling on the chain to re-enter the program immediately.

"Gristedes' disregard for the health and wellbeing of WIC program participants is a direct attack on the children and mothers of our community," the petition reads.

The petition was launched by the Community Access Committee in Chelsea after the group polled local residents about food availability and food affordability in the neighborhood, and found many people struggling to find local grocers that participated in food assistance programs.

The goal of WIC, like other federally-funded food support programs, is to provide low-income mothers and their children with healthy and affordable options at the grocery store. Once residents have enrolled in WIC, they can use their benefits to purchase groceries, after which the state Department of Health will reimburse the grocers.

Catsimatidis did not respond to interview requests from Patch, but previously told Chelsea Now that the chain left the program because of the state's reimbursement rate.

"They are ripping off New York grocers," the one-time Republican mayoral candidate told Chelsea Now. "We are one of the few left."

The group is hoping to present at least 1,000 signatures to the Castimatidis family. Local politicians including Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer and Brady Hoylman, the state senator who represents Chelsea, have signed the petition. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The petition is the group's first steps toward improve food accessibility in the Chelsea neighborhood. Next up, Medelius says, is tackling the selling price of food and grocers in the neighborhood.

"We're trying to get rid of that stigma that in Chelsea we're just a bunch of rich gallery goers that have money flowing out of their pockets," he said.

Image credit: Ciara McCarthy / Patch.