Results tagged “traderjoes”

Fresh on the heels of news that Trader Joe's is set to invade Chelsea, word is that the TJ's sister-slash-superstore, ALDI, will be opening in Queens. The Voice talks to a "supermarket consultant" who tells them to expect a dozen more ALDI locations to follow. The Wegmans count for the five boroughs sadly remains at zero.

Will the standard Hawaiian shirt uniform of Trader Joe's employees soon be hitting Chelsea? Reportedly the store is in discussions to open a shop at the Mattel Building, located at 675 Sixth Avenue, between 21st and 22nd streets. That's only 11 blocks from the flagship TJ's in Union Square, but we doubt this will help with that laborious line.

It's not uncommon to hear New Yorkers complaining about how overwhelmed they are by the lines at the Union Square Trader Joe's that most hours of the day tend to snake through the store—often leading to a journey just to find where the end of it is. So passers-by on 14th Street must be feeling relieved now that they've spotted a "Trader John's" moving in just down the street in the space that a regular old Gristedes had been, right? Not so fast.

Even though the area once home to the House of D is now better known as the House of TJ's, City Councilman David Yassky and Controller William Thompson are still trying to block the city from the reopening and expansion of a jail in Downtown Brooklyn that has been closed since 2003. The two filed a lawsuit against the city trying to stop $430 million deal planned by the Bloomberg administration to add 720 beds to the the Brooklyn House of Detention in a move they say is a "waste of taxpayer money and would have a destructive effect on the local economy.". The suit claims that the city "secretively and illegally" re-populated the jail when it sent 31 prisoners there over the weekend in order to claim that it never closed. The Dept. of Corrections says it would like to have the jail reopened by early next year.

Have you heard? Everyone is so excited about the new Trader Joe's coming to town! Brooklyn's first branch of the grocery store opens up this Friday, and if you thought that in a city like New York it would take a little more than reasonably priced organic milk to get people excited, then you'd be wrong. OTBKB has a source deep inside the establishment who reports back that the Court Street store's opening will include prizes (yes, prizes!) for the first 100 people on line, a Caribbean band soundtracking the exciting day, along with tastings and probably Marty Markowitz making an appearance in a Hawaiian shirt. Having trouble picturing it all? Gersh Kuntzman from the Brooklyn Paper gives you a sneak peak at the store. Spoiler alert: the inside contains salmon and 18 cash registers! One question no one can answer yet, however, is how and if this will impact Fresh Direct's Brooklyn business.

This weekend the Daily News explored the idea of Brooklyn as a luxury destination, with one area resident saying it's "a little difficult for people to live like they used to" in the borough—what with all the pricey places popping up. However, the paper also takes a look at the opening of Brooklyn's Trader Joe's, opening on Friday. One Carroll Gardens local says of the Court Street store, "This is going to be cool. The people here are lucky to have something like this, especially since they take food stamps, because a lot of fancy stores don't take them." The shop's shelves are stocked with healthy, and many organic, choices—and prepared meals will go for $3 or less...while one can pick up a six-pack of beer for only $4.99! But don't even think about drinking them on your stoop.

It seems like just yesterday that Marty Markowitz was standing there in his Hawaiian shirt, announcing the borough's first Trader Joe's. Now, the Brooklyn Paper reports it will be opening in the landmark Independence Bank building as soon as next week! September 26th, to be exact. "The supermarket will open at 9 am and the festivities will feature giveaways, live music," and of course, more Markowitz. But be warned winos, this location at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Court Street will not have Two-Buck Chuck, or any wine at all.

The notorious Brooklyn House of Detention – immortalized by everyone from the Beastie Boys to Jonathan Lethem – has been closed since 2003, but plans to reopen the jail at twice its previous size are still moving forward. Last year many newcomers to the steadily gentrifying neighborhood decried plans to bring back the detention center, located at the intersection of Atlantic and Smith.

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double stabbing at 14-19 31 Drive in Queens, a double shooting at 138th St. and 59th Ave. in Queens, and a commercial robbery on East 12th St. between 3rd and 4th Aves. in Manhattan. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is committing millions of dollars to residents of the South Bronx, pleasing some, rankling others, and infuriating the Mayor of Caracas, which is Venezuela's desperately poor capital. Marilyn Kaytor, who...

The NY Times is hinting that Brooklyn may be so over, a theory that seems to be based around Heath Ledger leaving the borough.

What if Brooklyn’s recent cachet as the locus for what’s next is little more than a thin and fragile crust of chic, hiding the insecurity of people who constantly measure the social currency of their ZIP code by Manhattan standards? The number of trendy boutiques, bistros and music clubs in Brooklyn may have spiked in the last five years, but its infrastructure of cool still represents only a fraction of that found in Manhattan. Its new identity is moored to a finite number of shops, restaurants, luxury condominiums and, yes, celebrities. If even one leaves, a void is created. Could the borough’s new status vanish as quickly as it ascended?

Last week Racked reported that there's word of an Apple store opening in Brooklyn. The question is, which neighborhood will iNvite them in. Dumbo NYC reports that Two Trees has reached out to Apple in the past, but they "weren’t ready". If they're ready now, their options in Dumbo would include the 6600 sq.ft space at 70 Washington Street and the 6700 sq.ft space across the street at Washington and Front Street.

The NY Times takes a look at Smith Street and the corporate companies creeping into the area and setting up shop. The most recent big announcement is that Trader Joe's is taking over the old bank on Atlantic Avenue and Court Street. How long until more big fish come to feed?

Yesterday we mentioned London designer Anya Hindmarch's I'm Not A Plastic Bag was finally arriving at Whole Foods today. The canvas tote was made popular by a combination of things including celebrity and unavailability. Hindmarch told the NY Times “To create awareness you have to create scarcity by producing a limited edition. I hate the idea of making the environment trendy, but you need to make it cool and then it becomes a habit.”

After many false starts, Trader Joe's announced this week that the grocery store chain would be finally arriving in Brooklyn. The news was heralded by Brooklyn Beep Marty Markowitz, who was decked out in one of the store's highly visible Hawaiian print shirts and leading a steel drum band at Court St. and Atlantic Ave. The Brooklyn Paper reports that while the grocer will soon move into the landmark Independence Savings Bank building at Court and Atlantic, Brooklynites will be required to trek to Manhattan if they want their "Two-Buck Chuck" wine.

After a lot of speculation that the Brooklyn Trader Joe's may never happen, Racked reports that it...IS! The good news (for Brooklynites) was posted just moments ago:

With the mid-week Fourth of July holiday, an abbreviated work week practically demands an afternoon at the movies complete with giant tub o' fatty snacks and subzero air conditioning. New York is a real haven for movie theater aficionados, and we all have our favorites. Here's a brief breakdown of what to see, and where, this holiday. In the comments feel free to weigh in on the best and/or worst places to see giant alien vehicles attack earth or betrothed couples acting goofy.

Earlier this year, The Sun reported that AvalonBay Communities would "begin construction this summer on a 42-story, residential market-rate tower with approximately 600 units. The property will have ground floor retail, which could house the borough's first Trader Joe's market." And even earlier this year it was suspected that TJ's would move into One Brooklyn Bridge Park.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a man was killed by a 6 Train at Manhattan's Bleecker St. station, a serious multi-vehicle accident on Grand Concourse and East 168th St. in the Bronx, and an evidence search followed a shooting on Beach Channel Dr. in Queens.
• The $250 nine course tasting menu at Per Se is the caloric equivalent of 4 and a half Big Macs, although we imagine infinitely more delicious. A prost-prandial stroll would have to be 31 miles long to walk it all off.
• Curbed reports that the former Jehovah's Witness Building in Brooklyn Bridge Park is getting the borough's first Trader Joe's.
• Brooklyn blogger and bicyclst eefers relates that she was nearly run down by a red light-running police car. When she physically indicated her displeasure at nearly being another bicyclist casualty of New York's traffic, one of the officers hurled her paper cup at her before the partners sped off. Rude certainly, but we imagine some citizens have endured worse.
• Appreciators can now purchase prints of artist Noah Kalina's "everyday" project, which are digital self-portraits taken every day for six years.
• It may do a body good, but milk will also slim your wallet. The price of a gallon of milk is rising to $3.54––up $.60 over the price a year ago.
• It's estimated that subway riders save roughly $1 billion annually using unlimited monthly and weekly metrocards. Only 12% of riders pay the full $2 a trip.
• The driver of the black SUV that struck and killed a Brooklyn boy last night and then sped off was arrested. He faces multiple criminal charges, including manslaughter.

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to...

Yesterday, Crain's reported that city pharmacy behemoth Duane Reade will take over leases of eight Gristede's locations in Manhattan. Each of the locations will converted into pharmacies, which would bring the total of Manhattan Duane Reade locations to 143.

While others are writing year end lists about their favorite restaurant openings (yeah, we know, A Voce, Little Owl, Boqueria), we thought we'd do something a bit different and highlight some of your favorite posts of the year. These are the food posts that either got you so riled up that you felt the need to put in your two cents in the comments or that, for whatever reason, you wanted to recommend to others.

Back in 2003, when Mayor Bloomberg sold the Board of Education's old headquarters at 110 Livingston Street in Brooklyn, people were fixated on the horrors of bureaucracy. Nicknamed "The Kremlin," 110 Livingston represented everything that was wrong with the city, and one person even told the NY Times, "If there is an opposite of nostalgia, you'd have to apply it to 110 Livingston Street."

THEATER: Beastie Boy Adrock (who turns 40 next month!) was but a wee homey when his father, Israel Horovitz, penned his hit play “Line” 32 years ago. That dark comedy is the longest-running play in off-off-Broadway history. It’s about five people stuck on line and their shameless machinations to get to the front. The theater’s website boasts that the play has been performed in 25 countries and split the sides of 100,000 theatergoers. Who will be 100,001? - John Del Signore

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly.

The new city grocery chains are certainly vying for each and every single impressionable shopper with their glossy new stores and pretty, pretty produce. But Whole Foods is taking the fight into a new arena: They will be touting low prices in an upcoming ad campaign. It's practically like Every Day Low Prices - does that mean will we see BYOGOF (Buy One Get One Free), too? It seems Whole Foods is trying to extend its appeal from that "fancy organic place" to that "fancy organic place with good prices," perhaps trying to take a little from Trader Joe's lustre. The NY Times, which will be running some of the ads in The City section, analyzed prices of grocery stores in the Union Square nexus and found some interesting results:

In several cases, Whole Foods' prices were, in fact, the lowest. An 8-ounce package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese was $1.99 at Whole Foods, compared with $2.19 at Walgreen's and $2.99 at the Food Emporium. A 15-ounce box of Kashi Crunch cereal was $2.49 at Whole Foods, compared with $2.69 at Trader Joe's and $3.49 at Food Emporium.

What lucky little New Yorkers we are. First the grand opening of the new and improved Astor Wines and Spirits and now, we get Trader Joe’s Wine Shop. It’s a wine cornucopia all packed neatly in one square mile. With such great options, so close (or conveniently located next to subways), we realized there was only one thing to do – hold a wine-off. May the best wine purveyor win.

As we were out enjoying the sunshine this weekend we spotted a sign at the new Union Square Trader Joe's announcing a date for the impending opening of the wine shop -- April 10th. Fans of the famous (or is it infamous) "two buck Chuck" will be rejoicing in the streets and joining their bretheren in lines down 14th Street, although rumor has it that the wine will probably cost more around three dollars (it ranges in price from $1.99 to $3.39 among the existing TJ's branches where it is currently sold) -- that's the price consumers will be paying for the prime Manhattan real estate. We can't help but be a bit skeptical, but we're reserving judgment until we've actually tasted the stuff. If it's good, we may have a bit of a potential drinking problem on our hands -- a bottle of decent wine for less than the cost of a glass anywhere else is pretty damn tempting. Has anyone out there tried it? Tell us all about it in the comments or by email!

Remember way back like twenty minutes ago when Trader Joe's opened it's "first store in the City" and Manhattan collectively Continue reading "Sorry, I Can't Hear You, I've Got A Bannana In My Ear!"