Greene Hill Co-op Approves Putnam Lease
At last night’s general meeting, members of the Greene Hill Food Co-op voted 29-0 to approve the terms of the lease at 18-24 Putnam Avenue. A similar vote in favor of the location itself had been cast last month, which gave the lease committee the authority to negotiate terms with the landlord. We don’t know…
At last night’s general meeting, members of the Greene Hill Food Co-op voted 29-0 to approve the terms of the lease at 18-24 Putnam Avenue. A similar vote in favor of the location itself had been cast last month, which gave the lease committee the authority to negotiate terms with the landlord. We don’t know what the specific terms are, but the word is that the landlord is being generous. According to an email we saw last night, getting the lease signed could still take “a few weeks,” but in the meantime Co-op members will be setting up tables in the neighborhood and even knocking on doors. If you’d like to join, the sooner you can, the better. You can sign up here.
Food Co-op’ers Back Putnam Location [Brownstoner]
Food Co-op May Lease Space on Putnam [Brownstoner]
irisjones said: “With more people coming around its definitley going to change the dynamics of that area and make it much more noisier. Keeping my fingers crossed it doesn’t become too gentrified.”
Noisier? Are you kidding me? With club insomnia on fulton and the hooligans hanging out until all hours of the morning at the lefferts apt complex, it’s noisy enough as it is.
And yeah, gentrification would be a real downer. I hope the area stays a warzone with empty store fronts, drug dealers, prostitutes, and junkies… who in the hell wants a clean, safe neighborhood with ammenities to live in???!!
@eh: I think you’re missing the point a little bit. It’s a Food *Co-op*, not a Gourmet Grocery. The work requirement is sort of the point of the whole thing. Because the employees are are the owners and the customers, and likely members of local communities, they have an incentive to make the co-op a great place, and not just because it benefits them, but because it benefits their co-workers and community at large. The impact of personally knowing the other members, knowing how the co-op operates, etc. might be intangible, but it’s no doubt substantial.
To say that a mere 3 hours (THREE hours!) a month is a waste of your time, and that you’d rather pay out of the obligation, shows that you don’t fully grasp the value of the food co-op. Sorry to get all Jack Kennedy on you, but It’s not about what the 3 hours is worth to you, it’s what the 3 hours are worth to the co-op and to the community (hint: more than the $25 that someone else might be paid to work those three hours).
As someone who lives at Downing and Putnam, this will be a welcome change. I know some are disappointed that its not located in Fort Greene but there are so many shopping options for fresh fruits and vegetables in Fort Greene already. Clinton Hill is barren in that respect along with Bed Stuy. It will be nice to actually buy edible food in my neighborhood instead of having to walk to Fort Greene for food.
My only sadness is that it might change my neighborhood – although many of you think of that stretch as a blight its one of the friendliest blocks I’ve ever lived on. With more people coming around its definitley going to change the dynamics of that area and make it much more noisier. Keeping my fingers crossed it doesn’t become too gentrified.
Sure, maybe they’ll open a coop more central to Fort Greene residents — how about on Dekalb, right next to Roman’s? Would that work? In a nice big supermarket-sized space with cheap rent right there in the heart of Ft Greene.
Be realistic. You lay down your roots, follow your vision, and watch things grow around you.
Location is a shame. They should remove “Greene” from their name. Hopefully someone else will open a Fort Greene food coop, because this one is useless.
The coop isn’t trying to encourage people who aren’t interested in being part of a community organization to join. To echo TD, just don’t join. Don’t see anything classist about requiring the work. Park Slope has plenty of members who can afford to pay more and chose to give up their time to shop there (including me). And not that I’m advocating this, but I have heard rumors that in the past, people at Park Slope paid other members to work their shifts, so if you really want to join the coop for some reason, despite not liking their communal values, go that route.
I have no problem with your arguments and have no need to refute them. To me, if I don’t like the way a business is run I’ll simply not patronize that business. Why bother arguing against it? Or, if you had such strong opinions and really wanted to be a part of this new endeavor you would have attended the meetings.
TD you didn’t refute any of my arguments.
Maybe I would not be losing billable hours but would like to spend the time with my family or doing something else. What it comes down to is that there really is no rational reason. Its simply a group of people that just prefers something to be done their way. Nothing wrong with that but don’t pretend its anything else.
You don’t want me to shop at the coop because I highly value my time and/or can afford to pay someone to work it for me? Sounds like classism to me.
Again why wouldn’t you want me to create a job for someone who wants to work?
This argument has come up in pretty much every Park Slope Co-op discussion and I’ve never understood it. “the work requirement places an unfair tax on those who already work onerous hours or those who are highly compensated for their time.” Would you be losing out on billable hours when you are working here? Doubt it. By that reasoning, you are throwing away one third of your potential income when you are asleep.
Plus if you’re so highly compensated and your time is so valuable that you could hire someone else to work your hours or just buy your way out of it, why even shop at a place like this? Go to an expensive store, you can afford it. Or get Fresh Direct if you’re so busy.