Gristedes Owner and Other Grocers Join Fight vs. Fresh Direct’s Subsidies
DNAinfo
By Patrick Wall
NEW YORK — John Catsimatidis, the billionaire Gristedes supermarkets owner, has joined an outraged group of grocers who object to the nearly $130 million subsidy package that FreshDirect is likely to receive from the city, calling it a misuse of public funds that puts smaller competitors at a disadvantage.
Catsimatidis, who has teamed up with the New York Association of Grocery Stores, the National Supermarket Association and the Bodega Association, said FreshDirect “hustled” the city by threatening to move to New Jersey. He added the online grocer should have been ineligible for certain incentives it may receive to build a new headquarters in the South Bronx.
“I am opposed to using my tax money, and the tax money of all of the smaller and struggling food retailers in NYC, to fund a competitor,” Catsimatidis, a potential mayoral candidate, said in a statement.
“In 42 years in business, I have not received one incentive,” he added in an interview, saying he was “outraged” when state and local officials announced the FreshDirect deal in February.
In return for the tax breaks, grants and loans, FreshDirect agreed to stay put in New York, where it promised to invest $112.6 million to build a new headquarters at the Harlem River Yards and create about 1,000 new jobs.
