Shoppers began streaming to the new Fairway last Wednesday by car, bike
and foot. While the numbers alone speak volumes–52,000 square-feet,
over 500 kinds of prepared foods and 300 employees (including 150 Red
Hook residents)–the impact the gourmet supermarket has already had on
the neighborhood is not easily quantified.

"It’s a good opportunity. Everybody’s
starting new and fresh," said 21-year-old cashier Renell Burrell during
her break on Saturday afternoon. The Crown Heights resident took part
in a three-week job training program to prepare for the store’s
opening. "There’s 600 to 700 different codes for produce you have to
learn off-hand. It can be overwhelming."

Fairway’s first weekend left many in the neighborhood feeling like Burrell, both optimistic and overwhelmed.

Inside the 150-year-old warehouse, walls of cheese and gallons of
stuffed olives captivate shoppers. Outside, the Verrazano Bridge and
Statue of Liberty frame a panoramic postcard view of the harbor. Old
trolley cars sit sandwiched between the adjacent Waterfront Museum
Barge and the Beard St. Warehouse (home to the Brooklyn Waterfront
Artists Coalition). Even with landscaping still in progress, the rare
stretch of public waterfront access is already a worthy tourist
destination…Read more at B61 Productions