New Fairway Delivers Fresh Produce to My Neighborhood
On the local, national and nutritional fronts:
How refreshing, in this heat, that Fairway opened a new store on East 86th Street yesterday. Coincidently, Michelle Obama’s push to eliminate “food deserts” – places where it’s hard to find affordable fresh produce and other healthy foods – was highlighted this week when several big retailers signed on to the initiative.
There was a carnival-like atmosphere on the sidewalk outside the new store, which occupies a large, multilevel space where there used to be a Circuit City (bankrupt, closed) and a Barnes & Noble (moved). Inside, I made a rough tally of unpackaged (6 varieties), nectarines (4), plums (3), string beans (4, including a yellow variant I’ve never seen before), potatoes (11 non-sweet, + yams and “yellow yams”), onions (7), mushrooms (5), not counting the pre-packaged kinds), peppers (11), tomatoes (9) and beets (3).
You get the picture: if you’re looking for a fresh ingredient and it’s available anywhere New York, chances are you can find it here. Downstairs, there’s fresh fish, meat, coffees, baked goods, and tons of regular and organic grocery items. I counted 22 types of pure honey, not including differently-sized items of the same brand and flavor, and then stopped. Upstairs, there’s a limited selection of prepared foods, a competitively-priced smoked fish counter, a wide cheese selection, dried fruits, nuts and more.
I spent a while meandering through, and heard only positive comments. The shoppers seemed happy; the employees registered glee. A woman next to me on a briskly-moving line summed up the consensus: “This is the best thing that’s happened to the neighborhood in years.”
We should all be so lucky –
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Sounds lovely! I’m lucky enough to have a good grocery store within walking distance of my home, but there are a lot of areas in my city that have no access to affordable groceries of any kind.
Yes, it’s definitely an addition for this part of the city. The west side has had good fruit and vegetable markets for decades.
This opening will be rivaled only by Whole foods opening on 57th.
Both saving us the crosstown schlep to Fairway.
Hi Peggy, It’s all good, I suppose. But I have a strong preference for Fairway, mainly because they offer so much high-quality produce and hard-to-find ingredients. I find the WF scene gimicky and their selections over-priced.