Good neighbors share, even the big corporate ones.
That’s at the heart of what local activist and Assembly candidate Bob Capano hopes will be the beginning of a beautiful relationship with Walgreens, the new owners of the shuttered Key Food supermarket at the corner of 93rd Street and Third Avenue.
As Walgreens begins preparations to rehab the site, Capano is hoping that the corporation will allow local residents and business to use the parking lot that stretches down 93rd Street.
“Every Bay Ridge resident knows what it’s like to be driving up and down the block looking for a parking space,” Capano said. “It seems like such a waste to have a vacant parking lot that no one’s using.”
In a letter written to Gregory Wasson, the president and chief operating officer of Walgreens, Capano asked that the pharmacy giant “explore options to allow our community to utilize this parking lot while it remains vacant in order to relieve parking pressures in Bay Ridge.”
“Opening the parking lot up to local residents and shoppers, as well as working with area restaurants to utilize the parking lot for customers during evenings, especially on weekends, would free up parking spaces on local streets and make parking easier for residents.”
“There are a lot of local restaurants that are losing business on the weekend because every parking spot is taken up,” Capano said. “If Walgreens entertains my suggestion, it will be a winnable situation for everyone. We get some much-needed relief and Walgreens gets to build some good will with the community.”
The Key Food, which served residents of Bay Ridge for decades, closed its doors at the end of June.
News of its closure rattled some produce-starved residents into creating their own food co-op, which began this month.
In the hopes of turning the lemons he can no longer find in the community into lemonade, Capano, a Republican who is running against Democratic Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny in November, hopes that his parking lot sharing plan bears fruit.
Local restaurateurs hope so as well.
“Lack of parking is a consistent problem for local residents and customers, and the use of the lot will offer some relief,” said Bay Ridge businessman John Bennett, who owns the Bally Bunion Restaurant across the street.
As this paper went to press, Walgreens executives had not responded to Capano’s suggestions.
A Walgreens’ spokesman said Tuesday that the company was “still reviewing the request.”
While he claims that his plan is for the benefit of motorists throughout Bay Ridge, Capano can’t help but use his plan as a small plug for his uphill battle for the 46th Assembly District.
“I understand that the job of Assemblyman is about much more than going to Albany to vote on bills,” he said during a brief moment on his political soapbox. “Our community deserves to have elected officials who are active on the local, quality-of-life issues that affect residents every day.”
If he beats the eight-to-one odds (there are eight Democrats for every Republican in the borough, according to most estimates, but Capano was recently endorsed by borough Independents), Capano promises to “continue developing innovative solutions to challenges facing our community.”
