To the Editor,
On Saturday morning I received a phone call from one of our civic association members. She is 93 years old and patronizes Super Foodtown on Bruckner and Crosby avenues. Although she would prefer to shop elsewhere because she feels that the Bruckner upzoning would decimate our community, she cannot as she does not drive.
She was quite upset as she told me how she was treated at Foodtown. She is known there as she has been a customer since they opened their doors in our community.
She told me that the manager with the bald head came over to her and said, “You were at the protests.” He pointed to the bag of water bottles she brought with her to return for deposit and proceeded to tell her that the bottles were dirty and he would not accept them. He did not look in the bag so he could not have known if they were clean or dirty. Then he proceeded to lead her to the door and said, “You can leave.”
In a burst of bravery she told him she was not ready to leave. She walked around the store trying to get her composure, and hold back the anger and tears. Then she left when she was ready.
I wanted to let our community know that a manager/share owner who would prey on a 93-year-old woman would also prey on a community — our community. That is exactly what the principals of this upzoning proposal are doing. They are not trying to improve our community. They are trying to line their pockets.
Please let this awful incident shed light on who we are dealing with. Fight back. Do not let them prey on our wonderful community.
Mary Jane Musano
