An Upper West Side block association is demanding that a space vacated by a Food Emporium earlier this year must be leased to another market.
The group, concerned about landlord Madison Capital’s plans to subdivide the space, at Broadway and West 68th Street, is circulating a petition asking the property owner to lease the entire 28,000-square-foot space to a grocer. Residents have also appealed to Community Board 7, which has not passed any formal resolution on the matter.
“There are so many people in our neighborhood who can’t live without a full-size supermarket there,” Pamela Motisi, a West 68th Street Block Association representative, told Community Board 7, according to DNAinfo.
Food Emporium shuttered on May 4 and the space has since sat vacant. According to another block association representative, no supermarkets have expressed interest in the space thus far.
Madison Capital did not return DNAinfo’s request for comment. Winick Realty Group, the brokerage marketing the space on Madison’s behalf, declined to comment. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland