BY JOE SCOTCHIE
jscotchie@antonmediagroup.com
Over 20 years ago, in 1994, one of the fiercest public debates in Roslyn history took place over the proposed construction of a Stop & Shop supermarket on the 11-acre plot of land off Skillman Street.
After an extensive and sometimes bitter debate, the proposal was defeated and Stop & Shop was shut out of the village.
In the meantime, the Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop has continued to expand in the New York City metropolitan area. Its latest expansion comes on the heels of its conversion of 25 A & P stores in New Jersey, Queens, The Bronx and Nassau County into Stop & Shop facilities. And one of those stores will be the former Pathmark facility in Greenvale, at 130 Wheatley Plaza. Thursday, Oct. 15 was, according to Stop & Shop officials, the final day of the Greenvale Pathmark. And on Friday, Oct. 22, that store will be replaced by a Stop & Shop.
“Our store conversion team is doing a great job and we can’t wait to open the first wave of stores to our customers,” said Don Sussman, president of Stop & Shop, New York Metro Division. In addition to Greenvale, new stores in the New York area will open in Springfield Garden and Howard Beach in Queens County and one on Eastchester Road in The Bronx.
The 1994 debate over Stop & Shop had both immediate and long-term effects on the village. Board of trustee members were voted out of office and a new mayor and board were elected. It led to the defeat of longtime mayor, Joel Pasnik and the rise of Janet Galante, from a board member to the village’s first female mayor. More important, the village drafted and approved of sweeping new zoning laws, allowing for residential construction in downtown Roslyn, which has resulted in the Atria at Roslyn Harbor senior living development. In 1994, most of the objections to the proposal had to do with parking and the existence of a store that would be open 24 hours in downtown Roslyn.
However, a spokesman for Stop & Shop told The Roslyn News that the Greenvale location will not be open 24 hours a day. The hours, said Jim Keenoy, will be from 6 a.m. to midnight on Monday through Saturday and from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday.
“We were presented with an opportunity to acquire the location and we look forward to serving the customers in the area,” Keenoy said.
