It’s been a tough slog for Whole Foods in Brooklyn already and the organic grocery giant hasn’t even started construction on the 68,000-square-foot market it wants to build at the corner of 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue in Gowanus. The store, which will include 37,000-square-feet of underground retail space, can built as-of-right (once the environmental clean-up is complete), so no approval from community groups is required; that doesn’t mean there’s been a lack opinions voiced. “They’ve wrapped themselves in the cloak of being green and organic, but they’re certainly not acting that way,” said Eric McClure, campaign coordinator of Park Slope Neighbors. “Their talk is not matching their walk.” Another local group, Green Roof Brooklyn, says it supports the arrival of Whole Foods in general but wants to company to cut about 140 parking spaces and add a green roof to help ease pollution in the area. A third group, Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus, is critical of how the environmental stage of the project has been going, claiming that the process is pushing benzene and other contaminants into the underground water supply. Whole Foods paints the naysayers as a small minority of the thousands of residents who will be served by the store. We’re curious to know how the Brownstoner community feels about this one. Take this quick poll to let us know. Update: As of about 2:15 today, 120 people have taken the poll. The results so far? Over half of respondents say that they are “psyched for the Whole Foods plan as is and think the critics should shut up and get out of the way” while about one third say they “welcome the idea of an upscale market in the area but have concerns about the environmental impact of the project.”
Whole Foods Meets Opposition in Brooklyn [Austin Statesman] GMAP
Whole Foods Poll [Survey Monkey]
Photo by leahlb