City woos FreshDirect to the South Bronx
Over the objections of Bronx environmentalists and many local community advocates, the online grocer FreshDirect will move to Port Morris, thanks to a package of taxpayer subsidies worth nearly $130 million.
City officials said the deal preserves 2,000 jobs and will add more than 600 more. Critics cite its high cost and the speed with which it was rushed through without public input. They complain that the location of the new plant jeopardizes plans to build a pedestrian bridge to Randall’s Island and to create public access to the waterfront, and warn that the additional truck traffic to and from FreshDirect will further foul the air in a neighborhood where asthma is epidemic.