Bartlett Dairy to open Queens distribution facility in vacant JFK lot

A new Bartlett Dairy facility will open in 2020. Rendering courtesy of NYCEDC.

By Phineas Rueckert

Got Milk?

Queens does — or, at least, will again soon. The City Council unanimously approved a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) application on Thursday to open a Bartlett Dairy distribution plant in a vacant lot near JFK Airport, finalizing plans that have been nearly three years in the making.

The plant will open in 2020 and will create more than 165 permanent jobs, as well as an estimated 70-90 temporary construction jobs, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Community leaders, including Councilmember Donovan Richards and Community Board 13 director Mark McMillan, praised the Council’s decision.

“This project brings needed development for the location, job opportunities for local residents and general economic development all around,” McMillan said in a statement.

The announcement comes almost three years after Elmhurst Dairy shuttered its milk distribution facility in Jamaica, which led to 273 jobs being lost, amNewYork reported in 2016.

“We are excited to be returning home to the birthplace of Bartlett Dairy,” Thomas Malave, Jr., the president of Bartlett Dairy Inc, said. “We look forward to our continued growth in conjunction with the local community.”