Bronx Terminal Market Yes, Wal-Mart No, BJ's still Maybe...

The New York City Council overwhelmingly approved a $400 million plan to redevelop the Bronx Terminal Market into a 1 million-square-foot retail center, which is expected to generate more than 5,000 new jobs. Sounds terrific at first though the victims of this deal however, are the prior merchants who were offered a 'take it or leave it' package as mentioned in the New York Times Article.

Ralph Lelia, the owner of Lamp and S Fruit Producers, is among the vendors for about 25 businesses at the decaying market. They must move to make way for a new multilevel retail center and garage.

A major win for the community although was the developers signed off on a 'Community Board Agreement'. An agreement that needed to be signed or the council would not approve the mall. One of the points of emphasis in the agreement was strictly No Wal-Mart, a huge win for the community. Here is an outline of the rest of the agreement...

• Set aside 18,000 square feet of retail space for local businesses
  
• Developers must train and provide jobs for the local community and borough residents
• If BJ's does in fact enter the mall, Related Companies has agreed to pay half the membership fees for 1,000 neighborhood familes
• Guarantee residents who use food assistance programs will be able to use their subsides to buy groceries there
• No Wal-Mart

See the NY1 News Report Here