While Ridgites in the higher numbered streets are mourning the departure of their supermarket, slated to close next month, residents of the neighborhood close to Bay Ridge Avenue may have a pleasant surprise.
A source with knowledge of a possible impending deal has confirmed a rumor that has begun spreading among residents living near the old Harry’s furniture store at 244 Bay Ridge Avenue, that the now-shuttered emporium may become a supermarket.
“It’s a rumor that hopefully will become a fact,” said the source. “It was a car dealership before it became a furniture store. Hopefully, it will become a store the community desperately needs for that type of service.”
“In that area, a supermarket is needed,” agreed Josephine Beckmann, the district manager of Community Board 10.
Recalling that a fixture in the community, the A & P at Fourth Avenue in the 60s, had closed several years back, Beckmann said that the board office had received numerous calls over the years from residents about the lack of a supermarket in the area.
‘They feel a strong loss,” Beckmann stressed. “There is a high number of seniors living in the area, and they are left with a long commute to get goods,” faced with traveling either to Third Avenue and Bay Ridge Parkway, where there is a Food City, or to the Pathmark store at 13th Avenue and 62nd Street.
“The Bay Ridge Towers residents also relied on that supermarket (the closed A & P, so it would be wonderful news,” Beckmann concluded.
