Local Pols Press New Walgreens to Offer Produce

With one of its only grocery stores soon to become a Walgreens, local elected officials are fighting to keep Windsor Terrace from turning into a food desert.

Prospect Avenue's for the last time on June 30, eliminating for many residents—namely, seniors and those without cars—the only local option for one-stop grocery shopping.

The news of the supermarket's closure has prompted a flurry of outrage not only from community members (see the comments posted ), but protests from Councilman Brad Lander, and even Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

Lander, D-Park Slope, called the loss of Key Food "a sad day for Windsor Terrace," and hopes that Walgreens management will opt to include a food selection beyond the standard array of candy and gum.

"With the sale of Key Food, much of the neighborhood will now be more than a mile away from the nearest grocery store," Lander said. "This will have an especially devastating impact on seniors, but the whole Windsor Terrace neighborhood will be harmed by this sale."

Markowitz echoed Lander's sentiments, imploring Walgreens to include a produce section as it has in other locations like Bay Ridge.

"While I’m a firm believer in free enterprise, the unfortunate reality is that when it comes to buying, renting or leasing these locations, it’s extremely difficult to compete with major drug store chains and banks that, one could argue, are over-populating neighborhoods that are under-populated with full service supermarkets," he said. 

Markowitz said he has already spoken with the president of Walgreens in attempt to impress upon him the importance of a grocery section at the Windsor Terrace location.

"It’s my expectation they will make every effort to determine if another suitable site can be found to serve the residents affected by the loss of the Windsor Terrace supermarket.”