Mott Havenites Say ‘No Deal’ to Fresh Direct
Mott Haven Herald
By Amora McDaniel
A contingent of Mott Haven residents voiced loud opposition to a proposed move to the neighborhood by the food delivery company FreshDirect at a Feb. 9 public hearing in lower Manhattan, citing concerns over increased truck traffic and reduced access to Randall’s Island as reasons the city should nix the deal when its Industrial Development Agency reaches a decision next Tuesday.
While many of the 75 or so New Yorkers present at the city’s Economic Development Corporation offices expressed their support for the company’s proposed move to a 16-acre section of the Harlem Rail Yard, 10 Mott Havenites denounced the $130 million package of subsidies the city pledged on Feb. 7 to keep the online grocer from moving to New Jersey.
They told the nine-member panel that officials failed to consider existing health and environmental concerns, contending the added truck traffic will worsen an already critical asthma problem for South Bronx residents who breathe some of the city’s foulest air.
“I am concerned about 130 truck trips back and forth a day in my neighborhood,” Mott Haven resident Donald Dunn said. “I am concerned that this plan will disrupt the development of the waterfront that we have worked so long for.”
