NYC grocers gripe over fruit vendors so close to stores: 'Pick off our customers'

Published

2 years ago

May 27, 2024

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City grocery-store owners are blasting Big Apple officials for allowing licensed fruit and vegetable vendors on the same block as their shops — in some cases fewer than 30 feet away — eating into their profits.

In Forest Hills, Queens, a fruit and vegetable stand is located just 25 feet from a Key Food supermarket on the northern side of Queens Boulevard between 71st Avenue and 71st Road.

“They know they can pick off our customers,” fumed Nelson Eusebio, political director of the National Supermarket Association, which reps 600 Key Food, C-Town, Associated, Bravo and other grocers in the city.

The window alongside the Key Foods has pictures promoting the sale of blueberries and asparagus — while the vendor sells the same fruit and veggies within eyeshot.

It’s just one one example of vendors and grocers operating almost cheek-to-jowl.

There are about 500 licensed fruit and vegetable vendors across the city aimed at providing fresh produce to neighborhoods that lack access, according to the city Health Department, which regulates them.

Fashionable Forest Hills is not a neighborhood with limited access to healthy fruit and vegetables, so to allow such streetside competition is unfair, grocers say — noting the overhead costs they have to pay such as for unionized labor, property and utility bills.

“This is a big burning issue,” Eusebio said. “We’re not against the vendors making a living. But don’t put them next to any store. It’s gotten out of hand.”

Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis said permitting food vendors to locate so close to his stores “destroys our produce department.”

He said it’s just another example of New York being anti-business.

“Business is down. Shoplifting is up,” Catsimatidis said. “A lot of drugstores have closed. Maybe the grocery stores will close.”

Catsimatidis joined Eusebio in lamenting that neither Mayor Eric Adams’ administration nor the City Council have addressed the gripes.

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Forest Hills shoppers were divided on the grocers vs. vendor spat.

Paula, 75-year-old retiree who shops at both, sided with the vendors, saying she has a limited income and needs to watch her spending.

Forest Hills is very, very expensive,” Paul said. “Key Food has everything, but prices are high. At the fruit stand, lemons are cheaper, broccoli is cheaper, tomatoes are cheaper, grapes are cheaper.”

Dont blame the vendor. Theyre looking to survive,” she said. “These supermarkets make a lot of money. They’re selling a ton of products. They make money on everything.

But Shawn, a Forest Hill office worker, said he doesn’t shop at fruit stands and agreed with grocers that putting vendors on the same block is unfair competition.

“Theyre taking business from the supermarket. They should give a percentage of the business to the supermarket,” he said.

The fruit and veggie vendors pay a $200 annual permit to operate, plus $300 to $500 to store their carts — though some keep their tables on sidewalks 24-7.

“It’s definitely competition, but it’s not unfair competition,” said Matthew Shapiro, legal director of the Food Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center, an advocacy group.

“It’s true that grocery stores have a lot of expenses, a lot of overhead. But they got a lot in return. Vendors get a fraction of the return. We got vendors, farmers’ markets, grocery stores. There’s something for everyone,” he said.

The city Health Department defended the food-vendor program and brushed off complaints of grocers regarding location.

“Its important for communities to have a good mix of supermarkets, bodegas, farmers markets, green carts, etc. Its easier to make healthy choices when healthy, affordable food is readily available,” a Health Department spokesman said.

Business

Second Horizon victim Janet Skinner ‘forced’ to sue Post Office as she seeks full redress for wrongful conviction

Published

8 mins ago

December 17, 2025

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Second Horizon victim Janet Skinner 'forced' to sue Post Office as she seeks full redress for wrongful conviction

A victim of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal is taking legal action against the government-owned organisation as she seeks full redress for her wrongful conviction.

Janet Skinner is believed to be only the second victim to sue the Post Office.

The former subpostmistress has been “forced” to take the state-owned business to court, her solicitor told Sky News.

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Ms Skinner has been a campaigner for victims of the faulty Horizon software for nearly two decades.

Around 1,000 people were wrongly prosecuted and convicted throughout the UK between 1999 and 2015 as a result of Horizon.

Despite having her conviction for false accounting overturned in 2021, Ms Skinner has yet to receive a final payment, has been given an insufficient interim sum and is being asked for six different expert reports, said lawyer Simon Goldberg.

Ms Skinner is taking legal action in an attempt to see the issue resolved.

“There’s no sign of resolution. We’re only forced to do it because enough is enough,” Mr Goldberg said.

“It’s cruel and traumatic beyond belief that she should still have to be fighting.”

Ms Skinner’s claim should have been settled within 12 months of the conviction being overturned, he said.

Mr Goldberg added the interim offers are not in keeping with the recommendations of retired High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams, who presided over the public inquiry into the scandal.

Both the Post Office and the Department for Business and Trade, which administers all but one of the victims’ redress schemes, said in October they would “always apply a generous approach” to assessing redress.

But Ms Skinner was initially offered a payment worth only 15% of her total claim.

“They’ve [claim assessors] clearly tried to grind her down and make her give up, and we’re not playing,” her solicitor said.

More legal action to come?

While Ms Skinner is believed to be only the second victim to launch a civil case against the Post Office, she may not be the last.

A postmaster made famous after being portrayed in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, Lee Castleton became the first to take such action in March.

“Unless there’s a sea change, there will definitely be more claims,” Mr Goldberg said.

Ms Skinner was given a nine-month custodial sentence in 2007 after the Horizon computer programme, made by Fujitsu, incorrectly generated a £59,000 shortfall.

She was imprisoned when her two children were in their teens, released with an ankle monitor tag, and sold her house when it was due to be repossessed.

Amid the ordeal, Ms Skinner suffered a neurological collapse and was left paralysed from the neck down. She has had to regain the ability to walk.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We recognise the devastating impact of the Horizon IT Scandal on former postmasters like Ms Skinner and would like to unequivocally apologise for her experiences.

“Responsibility for Ms Skinner’s redress claim moved to the Department for Business and Trade in June 2025.

“We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings but once we receive the claim, we will engage fully in the process.”

Politics

UK to rejoin EU’s Erasmus student exchange scheme – reports

Published

8 mins ago

December 17, 2025

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UK to rejoin EU's Erasmus student exchange scheme - reports

The UK is to rejoin the European Union’s Erasmus student exchange scheme, according to reports.

The popular programme, which allowed Britons to spend a year studying at European universities as part of their degree without paying extra fees and vice versa for their European counterparts, ended for British students after Brexit on 1 January 2021.

But ministers could announce the UK will rejoin Erasmus from January 2027 as soon as Wednesday, The Times and The Guardian have reported.

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Sir Keir Starmer promised a post-Brexit reset deal with Brussels and announced the government was working on rejoining the programme in May.

Negotiations have included work on “mutually agreed financial terms” for the UK and the EU.

The UK had pushed for a discount on membership fees, which are calculated on the basis of a country’s gross domestic product (GDP), The Times reported.

It said the EU is understood to have offered the government a 30% reduction of fees in the first year of membership.

Labour MP Darren Frith told Sky News’ Politics Hub he would “welcome” such a move.

The Guardian reported that as well as university-based study exchanges, British students will be able to participate in vocational training placements under the scheme.

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds held talks with Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s trade lead, in Brussels last week.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “We are not commenting on ongoing talks.”

But the UK’s universities welcomed the apparent breakthrough.

Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group of leading universities, said: “We’re delighted at the UK’s association to Erasmus+.

“With an even greater scope than previous programmes, Erasmus+ opens up fantastic opportunities for students, adult learners and young people to all benefit from new experiences and learning.

“It will also renew the huge contributions that EU students and staff make to life on our university campuses.”

The Lib Dems, who have been campaigning to rejoin Erasmus, welcomed the news.

Leader Sir Ed Davey said: “This is a moment of real opportunity and a clear step towards repairing the disastrous Conservative Brexit deal.”

US

Obamas planned to see Reiners the night they were killed, says ex-US first lady

Published

8 mins ago

December 17, 2025

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Obamas planned to see Reiners the night they were killed, says ex-US first lady

Michelle Obama says she and husband Barack Obama were due to see director Rob Reiner and his photographer wife Michele Reiner the night they were killed.

The former US first lady has paid tribute to the couple, who were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Sunday night.

The Reiners’ son, Nick, 32, was arrested and will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents.

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ms Obama said of the Hollywood couple: “We’ve known them for many, many years, and we were supposed to be seeing them that night.”

Rob Reiner was active in politics, supporting liberal causes.

Ms Obama’s comments came after Donald Trump suggested the 78-year-old died because of his anti-Trump views.

He referred to the director as “tortured and struggling” and said he and his 68-year-old wife had died “reportedly due to the anger he caused” by opposing the Republican president.

Reiners were ‘not deranged’

Ms Obama said: “Let me just say this, unlike some people, Rob and Michele Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know.

“They are not deranged or crazed. What they have always been are passionate people in a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on.”

The former first lady highlighted how caring the couple were; stating they cared about their family, country and fairness and equality.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump suggested the Reiners died “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome”.

“He was known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession of President Donald J Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.”

Rob Reiner was known for directing some of the most-loved films of the 1980s and 1990s, including the rom-com When Harry Met Sally and the legal thriller A Few Good Men.

Tributes pour in

Former US presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton as well as former US speaker Nancy Pelosi also paid tribute to the director.

Mr Obama added: “Beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people – and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action.”

Among the other high-profile figures paying tribute was actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who played Reiner’s ex-wife in the hit comedy series New Girl. She said: “I will always remember them as they lived. Passionate. Political. Surrounded by family and friends.”

US actor Kevin Bacon, who starred in A Few Good Men, appeared emotional in a video he shared on Instagram, praising the director for giving him the role.

Bacon said: “The making of that movie was one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had on a set.

“It was a magical time. So, I’m just sending love to everybody that knew him, because I know that everyone’s hurting today.”

Reiner’s other films included The Princess Bride (1987), Ghosts Of Mississippi (1996) The Story Of Us (1999), The Magic Of Belle Isle (2012) and LBJ (2016).

Actress and activist Jane Fonda said she was “reeling with grief” in a post on Instagram, while Stephen King, whose books were adapted into Reiner’s 1986 Stand By Me and 1990’s Misery, said he was “horrified and saddened” by the death of the Reiners.