A dark shadow partially covers an evil Fresh Direct truck as it heads north on Marcy delivering food to the deserving in Williamsburg and other neighborhoods that are not Bed-Stuy.
Fresh Direct has decided that many of us in Bed-Stuy are not worthy of their food. In fact they’ve decided to hand pick which buildings and blocks they will visit. My fellow Bed-Stuy blogger, Flood, the author of the new and interesting blog Lambent, Vast and Ruthless just recently found this out. Check out the blog’s post on Fresh Direct discrimination.
When I was living in Chelsea, I would order from Fresh Direct and I never assumed that they were so selective about their customers. Now that I live in Bed-Stuy, I’ve learned the harsh truth.
I went to the Fresh Direct website and tried a couple of addresses and it turns out that while they avoid most of 11206 like the plague, they DO deliver to the Mynt. That’s 756 Myrtle, and that is Bed-Stuy. Put that address into the delivery info. section and watch all of those delivery times pop up like mushrooms. LIKE WILD CHANTERELLE MUSHROOMS (which are $12.99/8 oz. pack at Fresh Direct in case you’re wondering). Now try this: put in another address in the 11206 area code (make sure it isn’t in Bushwick–they like the folks over there) and see what you get. It’s probably a “Sorry, Fresh Direct doesn’t deliver to that address.” The Bed-Stuy area of the 11206 code is on the “No Deliveries” list!
I have seriously considered ordering from Fresh Direct and giving them an address in the Mynt building. In an Elaine Benes move, I would sneak over to the building and hide in a janitor’s closet on the first floor, and when the delivery man shows up I would just walk out of the supply closet with a “Oh, I see my arugula and gouda have arrived!” Better yet, I could probably just sneak into the cold storage area and wait for my delivery there.
The question is, should we want to be customers of a business that clearly doesn’t want us as customers? I’m sure several of you are, like me, outside of the Restoration Plaza Foodtown delivery zone, and the few C-Towns, Key Foods and Pioneer grocery stores scattered about aren’t cutting it for you. We could surely use the convenience of Fresh Direct delivery, and I’m sure many folks would certainly pay any amount just to have their groceries arrive at their doors, so why has Fresh Direct chosen to discriminate against us? Why would they not serve communities that lack decent grocery stores? It seems like they would market themselves heavily to the hapless individual who moves into a neighborhood months (or years) before the first latte arrives. What can we do to get a decent grocer (Fresh Direct or otherwise) to service our area?
Hi Sally,
You got most of it right. Sorry for confusing you with the fast typing. We’re at the Utica stop on the ‘A’. Live on Hancock btw Stuyvesant and Lewis. Our block association site is http://www.hancock-blockassociation.com. We’re pretty new in the org phase, but the feedback has been positive.
Nina
What’s wrong with wanting fresh quality food from the grocey store in BedStuy?Why should we have to say to Key Foods, may I please have some English Muffins without the mold or some non rotting tomatoes? Shouldn’t they already supply fresh food?
I do support the local framers markets. I think they are wonderful. The culture here is what I love most in BedStuy.Thepeople take time to talk to one another. Whether it be FD or Key Foods I’m all in for the change in quality food in the hood.
Bedstuyfinest,as a life long native do you not think BedStuy deserves better amenties as such? What does respecting the past and prior have to do with wanting fresh food? I don’t think anyone wants a suburban strip mall. Just better choices in food.
peace
Wow. cant believe there’s so many comments about the fresh direct post lol. guess this was a touchy subject. We actually do have grocery stores in the neighborhood people. We can give them suggestions to better serve us. We have the farmers market on Lewis…there are options. We’re not stranded in some deserted land this is dramatic. Whats wrong with the foodtown in restoration? if its too “far”, take a $6 cab ride or petition them to expand their delivery zone. Whats the big deal over fresh direct? Off topic, Sally what are you talking about Bed Stuy being the cheapest place to live? Compared to where? Thats one of the biggest arguments against gentrification, the fact that people are being priced OUT of the neighborhood. Hmm. And keep in mind that at one point, Park Slope was a blighted area as well, and quickly became courted by those fleeing manhattan..and “renewed”..displacing the immigrant as well as low income population who could no longer afford to be there..it was a tough fight to keep what diversification there is now…starting to sound familiar? But now its a place devoid of character and “boring” right,lol..what will bed stuy look like in 5 years I wonder. Newbie2, really? There are plenty of reasons why the neighborhood “suffered” for so long and nowhere on that long list is a love for bulletproof glass. But whats “better” to you, anyway? Whats “true” change, as you put it? If the people you think should go, the undesireables, actually left, then what? Anyway there ARE restaurants here, there ARE shops here, and new ones are opening all the time.And there are banks too; shocking isnt it! But you were waiting for everyone to leave before you actually visited those places, right? Chill everybody. Just because people are not tearing their skin off because FD doesnt come here does not necessarily mean that they want bed stuy to be a ghetto. FD delivery does not equal progress.
Nina:
Hancock – one of my favorite streets! It’s right up there with Jefferson Ave.
Lots of gorgeous brownstones dripping in details on these blocks. You picked a great area, and I’m sure they are happy to have you.
Streetfaerie, what is better for me is a blog without racists who think that second-class citizenship is something that is acceptable or should somehow be preserved. If the undesirables left, we could all then concentrate on making the niehgborhood better. And by better I don’t mean more expensive. We can all be a part of creating a neighborhood with racial and economic diversity.
Yes, there are restaurants and banks in the area but the number and quality – though improving – still underserves the neighborhood. We all deserve better.
And by the way, a neighborhood filled with people who don’t think they deserve better does poorly because its residents don’t fight for what they deserve. That is why Bed-Stuy, in general, suffered. Bulletproof glass is one of many obvious symptoms of a community that needs to be kept at bay because elements of the community can’t control their need to rob the business owners who try to come in and provide a service to the entire community.
Each neighborhood, as a group, can make a decision as to what they want. But residents who accept a substandard quality of life suffer a self-fulfilling phophesy and I don’t want them around.
Would I use FD if they served the neighborhood? I honestly don’t know. I have tried to request service and I got the standard note saying that when there are more requests FD will consider coming to my block. I hated that response from FD but I kept at it, not so much to be able to use it but to have the option to use it. I want that choice and I will never get it if I allow the status quo to continue. The status quo is unacceptable to me and I want it to change.
I also live in Williamsburg and FD will not deliver to my street either. I live west of Graham Ave, so it’s not like I am living in Bushwick, but since I am surrounded by latinos, I guess FD will continue to ignore me.
I didn’t realize that FD refused to deliver to so many neighborhoods! What an eye-opener…
Just business…
Most folks of average means do their own shopping so that they can take advantage of sales, especially if they have a family to feed.
When there are enough requests for their services in the current “no delivery” zone,
you folks living there will get the thrill of having Fresh Direct’s noisy, fumy, refrigerated trucks and surly drivers parked under your windows at all hours of the day and early evening!
Be careful what you wish for…
Posted by: bren at October 31, 2007 4:54 PM
From the Brownstoner.
Required, are you trying to say that Bushwick has even less of a chance than Bed Stuy of FD deliveries one day?
If enough people supported it, we could have a co op like park slope does. From what I gather, this co op start because the residents want something not offered, and people wanted good food at a fair price.
Lots of newbies are moving to Bed-Stuy and they want better. How many bodegas can one cook a gourmet meal from?
we live in western bedstuy and fresh direct delivers to nostrand ave as the cutoff point, we were told. i saw a driver a week ago on greene & bedford and he told me that. in my experience with fresh direct, if you get enough people together from an area then they will deliver. it is based on demand. i don’t think that there’s a conspiracy against certain neighborhoods. they go where the money is-pretty simple.
Fresh Direct can be more expensive but it’s nice when you don’t have time to goto Pathmark to haul home a $300 load of planned groceries in a cab.
Hey everyone, this might be a bit off the FD topic, but thought I’d share:
“For years, Manhattan has been the place to live in New York. But now it has an up-and-coming rival: Brooklyn. – And it is not only the prices that are drawing them, but a cultural vibrancy that the city’s central borough has lost.”
Check it out in this article from UK > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2007/10/27/pbrooklyn127.xml
hey, my mother in law sent me that link too! I was going to post it here even though it’s not specifically about Bed-Stuy, just because it’s so interesting to read about Brooklyn from a non-NY, non-US perspective.
And to be reminded of how EXPENSIVE London is. Plus it’s true, you have to travel forever to get anywhere. NYC, even though it seems big, is really quite compact in comparison.
Thanks!
Yes, UK is very expensive. (or rather, my cash just means very little there.) Had to go there for work, since half of my team is there.
A co-op is a good idea. Obviously we have people interested in options, how do we go about starting one does anyone know? FD is not exactly fresher or better. Newbie2, you want to replace racism with elitism? Being against apathy or wanting more and varied options for food and shopping does not equate to you or anyone having the right to decide who is wanted or who should live in a neighborhood. Do your part to positively contribute to the area, but get it out of your head that you should or could decide who belongs where. Or that things would be better by default if certain people left. Hitler thought that way just to keep things in perspective. And bulletproof glass says more about the people who own the shop than the people who shop there. Its an indicator of distrust and contempt for the customer, and the majority of those shops were owned and operated by folks with no ties to the neighborhood. For the record I grew up in bed stuy and there were plenty of shops that didnt find it necessary to errect bulletproof glass and were not robbed by those who “couldnt control their need”. There are a lot of factors that go into creating a criminal mentality as well as the degradation of an entire area, and your pat assesment and subsequent ignorant conclusion(ie,”they” should leave)leaves a lot of room for improvement to put it lightly.
Glad to know that Brooklyn is the new place of choice for those coming from UK. They can afford it, seeing as the 1 pound = 2 dollars and 1 dollar = .88euros. So US and brooklyn is basically on sale. So we get the spillage of those unwilling/unable to pay for manhattan and who long for culture/excitement sounds exciting but i wonder; where will the current brooklynites spill over to?..
The current brooklynites ( at least us) are staying RIGHT HERE. I don’t mind having new neighbors to swap a cup of sugar for a power drill with.
Thanks for the link Nina. Great article.
There is a Food-Coop in Bed Stuy. It’s called Kalabash Food-Coop and it’s off of Tompkins. I’ve seen flyers for it in PLG at K-Dog and I know some folks who come up to Bed Stuy from PLG rather than go to the Park Slope Food Coop. I think if you google it, you can find out more.
I called when they first opened and was told “we don’t deliver to Bed-Stuy yet, but will be constantly expanding.” They don’t service the hood, but like the rest of us, tries to figure out where their class demographic lives in Bed-Stuy.
I think there are good reasons not to use this service:
1. Truck traffic increases smog; not helpful for all the kids and adults with Asthma
2. The business is a plantation model, whites run the biz and blacks and latinos staff the trucks (You know the brothers who drive their trucks would never be able to enter some of the posh building on Park Avenue if they did not have a Fresh Direct uniform).
3. Grocery shopping is a great way to burn some calories.
4. For those who need to get their high priced groceries on, Fariways in Red Hook is accessible by the A train to Jay Street; 61 to Red Hook.
The best message to send F
Hey folks,
News 12 Brooklyn is investigating the FD issue. A reporter came to my house on Saturday and interviewed a few of us from our block association about the lack of good grocery in our own neighborhood. The next session for Kalabash Food Co-Op box sales is Nov 10th. A few of us will check it out.
Will share any new news I get. – Oh yea, Fairway has great prices! But still, your traveling outside of your neighborhood to support someone else’s. We shouldn’t have to do it. I think that was the point. Have a great Sunday!
Nina
Streetfaerie, since you failed to follow the string here, let me get you up to speed.
Race baiters on this site were telling others to leave because they don’t like the changes that the new people (read non-African Americans) were trying to make and I refuse to put up with that. I think it is beneath all of us.
Perhaps you are not complaining about their insults as you – on some level – agree with them. I hope for your sake you don’t, but your comments about how expensive the neighborhood is getting and worrying about how some will get by makes me think you have issue with the changes as well. That is a perfectly legitimate perspective, but you attempts to equate me with Hitler are tired, misplaced and show how little you really have to say about the issue at hand. You want to debate the issues, great. Trying to call names is an obvious sign of deflection and makes you no better than the race baiters in my mind.
And as of the “contempt” of the non-resident business owners towards their customers, anyone who puts up partitions in their store does so from experience(s)with crime. Perhaps if you openned a business in the area – as a native you should have had ample opportunity over the years to do so – you would have a better perspective as to what, on a day-to-day basis, these business owners have to deal with.
Now don’t tell me that you couldn’t open a store in the neighborhood. (Is this where all the excuses of the old-timers kicks in?)
What, streetfaerie, have you done all your life to make the neighborhood better?
No need to answer, since the answer is absolutely nothing.
Why don’t you just sit back, like you have done all you life, and reap the benefits that others are bringing to your neighborhood. A least until the neighborhood gets too expensive for you and you are forced to move on to another neighborhood where you will not contribute to the improvement of the area.
Well said
As a homebound person, I have been getting my food from FD for about 3 years. The past two years have been all downhill. I was very happy with FD at first and recommended them to my friends – now I find much of their food is not that fresh, their prices are ridiculous, and customer service can be a real joke. Even in Manhattan, none of the supermarkets take food orders on the phone anymore so if you can’t physically go to the store and pick out the items, you’re out of luck. If I could walk to the supermarkets in my area, I would never give FD my business. Be careful what you wish for.
Excuse you. I made my stance clear on the issue of FD. Options are always good, and new businesses are always good. Because I dont agree that you can decide who lives in an area does not give you cause to attack me, but it did a good job of ripping the lid right off your ignorance, showing clearly all the stereotypes that you hold near and dear.Who is to say that because im a long time resident that Im black? Actually, Im mixed. So shove your opinion that I agree with racism. Who told you that I dont come from a long line of entrepreneurs, and home owners? Because actually,I do. And we did not have a partition, and did not get robbed. NONE of our stores, and there were several. Because I grew up here does not mean Im poor, uneducated, uninvolved, or dont own my own home. Just because I can see all sides of an equation shouldnt upset you. Just because I dont agree that this is a zero sum game where when new people come old ones have to leave; or when improvements are made, lower income residents should be priced out, shouldnt set me up to be your scapegoat where you pin all your frustrations on me. I dont have to be in a good position in your mind – I dont owe you anything. I dont appreciate the things you assume, nor do i appreciate you thinking this community needs you or others to improve it. I volunteer, Im a mentor, I get involved with community issues and efforts. I support local businesses and am in training to become a foster parent. You have no idea what i’ve done with my life nor should you comment on it. Shame on you for deciding you know anything about me because i wont let you make random generalized statemtents. I know what Im talking about, thats why I comment. You comment because you want to be heard and you think you sound good. Next time you think youre being clever realize you dont know a single thing about the people on this blog. And Nina, dont cosign foolishness. It wasnt well said. It was nonsense.
Nina you are a great person to have in the bed stuy area. Although you could have afforded a place in fort green, clinton hill, or even pricey park slope you choose, here, and it’s great you are part of the block association, and are even on the news addressing this FD issue. I bet your old neighbors were sad to see you leave!
streetfaerie ,
I guess if you were making a valid argument, you didnt need to get so flustered. There is nothing said in anyone’s comment about your race, background etc. Everyone is welcome to voice their opinion but if you feel its ok to compare someone to Hitler and then not expect a comment, you are foolish. People like you spew a lot of venom and get defensive when they have lost a valid argument. You have a point to make – make it based on facts not on emotion.
That was a lot of excuses and side stepping, Streetfaerie. You know nothing of me, yet you fling insults at me.
I made no assumptions about your race, sex, income, education, marital status, home ownership, etc. So why do you feel you need to explain it? Because it is easier to deflect that accept?
You have yet to grasp that I don’t want race baiters on this site or, for that matter, in my neighborhood. I never said poor people should leave. That is obviously your issue, not mine. I said race baiters should leave. Perhaps that is what bothered you so much. Perhaps you too are a race baiter. Deny it if you like, but you have yet to denounce race baiters on this string.
You have also failed to admit that you have ever run a business in the neighborhood and that your opinion of business owners in the neighborhood is something you know anything about. Yet you are ready with an opinion about them and why they behave the way they do.
You are eager to assumes things of others, aren’t you? Shame there is no basis in facts for your assumptions.
As for your involvement in the neighborhood, you weren’t even aware of a food co-op in your midst. How invloved can you possibly be if you don’t know that about your own neighborhood? (More excuses coming?)
You are painfully clueless and psychologically transparent. Stick to the facts and save your personal life drama for another blog.
has everyone ignored comment #60 from floydcat??? today, i was sitting on my front stoop and saw a fresh direct truck deliver to the house directly across the street. i was very surprised considering all of the controversy over fresh direct. they do deliver to bed-stuy. i live on greene avenue between bedford and franklin, which is definitely bed-stuy. i agree with floydcat. fresh direct will deliver where the demand is. it is simply good business sense-not descrimination. some of you have too much time on your hands. please stop misdirecting folks and slamming businesses.
In the main post I state that FD delivers to the Mynt, which is in Bed-Stuy. The question remains why would they select some blocks (or buildings) over others. We have a right to know why this is the case. As for their delivering where there is a demand, I would like to know how many hungry people constitutes “a demand?” If 2 people on a block are willing to order from them, is that enough, or does it have to be 5 people or 10?
good point changeling, maybe if the collectively FD was direct and said we have X number of people willing to place and order for this much. I know it’s a pain to group order, but if this is what will bring them to the area then some bounding is necessary.
but it is odd that you are close to the mynt and your order could be grouped with them.
Streetfaerie and Newbie2, find a street corner and duke it out & leave the rest of us out of it. Sally, send Nina a bouquet of flowers and be done with it already. Jeez. Nina, thanks for the nov. 10 co-op meeting info.
13 months later…
still no Fresh Direct in the 11221 zip.
Lame.
Hi Brian,
Look at it this way. Thanks to Wall Street, Fresh Direct might have less customers in it’s “preferred” zip codes anyway. I’m sure there are plenty more bodega shoppers now that massive lay-offs are becoming the norm. I have a few pals that received the “We regret to inform you” notices over the past few months.
Karma for the greedy bastards.
~Nina
Wow. I’m completely flummoxed. I know that FD was aware of the calls for service that people were posting on this blog, on Brownstoner, on Brooklyn 12. I can’t figure out why they would ignore parts of a neighborhood that they are already delivering to.