Astoria supermarket warns of total lay-offs if landlord declines to renew lease
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A sign posted in the window of Key Food Astoria in May 2019. Eagle file photo by Jonathan Sperling
By David Brand
A 40-year-old Astoria supermarket providing food for community members during the COVID-19 crisis will shut its doors and lay off more than 150 employees, according to a notice filed Monday with the state Department of Labor.
The opaque LLC that owns the 31st Street property housing Key Food Astoria has not agreed to negotiate a new lease with the supermarket, the Eagle reported in May. The corporation instead seems likely to demolish the building to make way for a new Target, said Larry Mandel, the chair of store owner Man-Dell Food Stores.
On Monday, Man-Dell filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with the Department of Labor indicating that the supermarket would terminate 151 employees, with “lease expiration” listed as the reason for the lay-offs. The store’s lease expires in October.
“It’s a really tough one, especially for the workers,” said Man-Dell’s Chief Administrative Officer Roseann Marabello-Rivera. “It’s a pandemic and here we are issuing WARN notices saying we might have to lay them off.”
Under state law, companies must give the state 90 days notice if they plan to lay off staff. The notice filed with the state Monday does not necessarily mean Key Food Astoria will shut down, but its continued existence depends on the property owner offering a new lease.
“There still is an opportunity. The problem is we just haven’t heard back from them,” Marabello-Rivera said, adding that they had not communicated with the landlords since May.
She had a message for management company Jenel Real Estate and managing partner Alex Adjmi of Manhattan-based A&H Acquisitions:
“If you’re reading this, please contact us,” she said.
Jenel and A&H did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment for this story or past articles about the Key Food Astoria plan.
Local elected officials have tried to broker an agreement that would allow Key Food Astoria to remain in place and potentially share space with the new Target.
“Key Food employees have put their life on the line day in, day out through this crisis to make sure northern Astoria is fed,” local Councilmember Costa Constantinides told the Eagle in May. “So the fact their landlord might kick them out, instead of working with them to find at least a short-term solution, is frankly disturbing.”
That same month, Constantinides, Assemblymember Aravella Simotas and State Sens. Jessica Ramos and Michael Gianaris addressed a letter to Jenel and A&H that cited the Eagle’s reporting.
“It was frankly sickening to read in the Queens Daily Eagle last week that you seem to prefer to evict Key Food, even as their employees continue to serve Astorians who desperately need nutritious fresh food,” the four lawmakers wrote.
