Red Apple Supermarket Hires 55 Local Workers

Finally there's some good news for the residents of Fort Greene Houses.

Despite word last July that , owners of Red Apple Supermarket on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene seemed poised to deliver the goods upon the grocer's much anticipated grand opening later this year.

Of 76 potential local candidates, 55 have begun the hiring process, according to Renee Flores, executive director of human resources and asset management at the Red Apple Group.

Most of those hires attended a special job fair Monday at Ingersoll Community Center in Fort Greene Houses, Flores said.

District Leader Lincoln Restler called news of the hiring a "tremendous victory" for a community suffering from persistently high unemployment, particularly among African-American young males.

"When a company enters our community, we expect that they will hire people from the community and not bring workers with them," Restler said. "It’s a great model for what every Fort Greene business should be doing."

However, word of good-paying union jobs going to Fort Greene Houses residents was tempered by news of the latest delay in the supermarket's opening.

, Red Apple's debut seemed likely to be pushed back to the last week of October—at the earliest.

Flores said she could not confirm an opening date due to "unforeseen construction difficulties."

Lack of access to fresh fruits, vegetables and other produce has been an issue ever since Gristedes chain owner John Castimatidis decided to bulldoze the neighborhood's Associated Supermarket five years ago to make way for an apartment building.

Though Castimatidis pledged to replace the market, residents from nearby Ingersoll and Whitman Houses have had limited food buying options ever since.

The lack of a "quality" grocer has been especially hard on the elderly and people with disabilities, according to Restler, who has worked with the office of Letitia James, D-Brooklyn, and community groups like Families United for Racial and Economic Equality and the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project, to bring the market—and badly needed jobs—to Fort Greene Houses.

"Supermarkets are essential for any community," he said. "It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out."