A lovely couple who live in Germany are coming to Brooklyn for Christmas and would like to sublet your apartment if you’re going away.

They are also open to the idea of doing an apartment swap. I don’t know the couple but my friend is the woman’s aunt and she has nothing but the highest regard for her niece.

How about Christmas in Munich? They live on the Isar River, minutes from downtown, opera, art museums, theater…

Nice non-smoking 30-something couple looking for a small (studio is fine) apartment (or room) from Christmas day to January 6. Preferably in Park Slope.

We are neat and clean and have no pet allergies. Looking to pay around 1000k. If anyone is interested in a housing swap we can offer a charming, centrally located apartment on a tree-lined street in Munich Germany. The apartment sits directly on the Isar river, is minutes from downtown and all major cultural institutions (opera, symphony, national theater) and of course the alps are less than an hour away.

If interested in either option please contact elreagh@yahoo.com

My Coop fun really started when I left the store. I went outside with my shopping cart, one of the cute carts that holds a a small, green plastic basket, and looked for one of those orange suited Coop  cart walkers. 

A Coop cart walker is a member who basically accompanies the cart to your house and takes it back to the Food Coop. They are not supposed to push the cart and it’s optional whether they even need to help you lift your bags when you get to your destination.

Today there were no Coop cart walkers outside. There was, however, another member waiting for a walker.

"I was here first," she asserted as I rolled out of the Coop.

"I know," I said.

The woman had a wiry, high strung look. She looked toward Sixth Avenue and spotted a Coop Walker pushing a cart up the Slope.

"You think she could move any faster," she said.

"No reason to break a sweat," I said not sarcastically.

"I’ve never seen anyone move so slowly," she said.

High-Strung Member had just completed a work shift at check-out—and she was very tired. She complained that she’d had to deal with a lot of attitude and a lot of pushy, obnoxious people. "I’ve never seen anything like it," she said.

We waited quietly for the Coop Cart Walker to make it up the hill. I ate one of the vegan wraps I bought. Lentils and spinach. It was tasty.

Then I had an idea. Since there was only one Coop Cart Walker I thought, maybe, we could share her.

"Hey, which way are you going?" I asked. High Strung Member pointed toward Sixth Avenue and President. She seemed open to the idea of me putting my small box and three Amy’s pizzas in her large green shopping cart.

She seemed to like the idea. I asked the  Coop Cart Walker, a very good natured, attractive woman. She was game.

We loaded up the cart and headed toward President and Sixth Avenue. The Coop Cart Walker happily pushed our cart. High-Strung Member and  I chit chatted.

"Do you live around here," she asked. "Do you know where I can find a Notary?"

I told her about Neergard. Then we realized that the Coop Cart Walker was PUSHING OUR CART.

"Hey, you’re not supposed to be doing that," I screamed and ran up next to her.

"Well, you were eating your lunch and she just finished a long check-out shift," Coop Cart Walker said sweetly. She continued to push.

When we got to President Street, High-Strung Member said,

"I’m not here," she looked slightly embarrassed. "My car is actually parked in the other direction."

Without a moments hesitation, we all redirected ourselves and headed toward Berkeley Place. Why not, I thought, it’s just a few blocks out of my way…

"Where do you live," High-Strung Member asked. "I can drive you home."

"That’s a great idea," Coop Cart Walker said. "That way I can get back and there won’t be, like, people lined up waiting for cart walkers."

That was fine with me.

The three of us chatted all the way to Berkeley Place.High-Strung Member was still smarting from her unpleasant check-out shift. I told them about my shift, which was fairly uneventful.

High-Strung Member slowed down in front of her Subaru station wagon.

"I have a dog car," she said ominously "I hope you don’t mind."

I was in such a "whatever" mood I didn’t mind at all. Coop Cart Walker actually loaded the car and wished us both well.

"Omigod, this was so unusual. I am going to write an article about it for the Linewaiter’s Gazette," she said referring to our unusually cooperative way of getting our groceries home.

"And I’m going to write a blog post about it," I whispered to myself.

My experience with the debit machines was very positive during my first time shopping at the Park Slope Food Coop since their installation.

Wednesday afternoon is usually a fairly easy time to shop. My work shift is on Wednesdays so I always shop there every fourth Wednesday. D-Week as we like to call it at the Coop.

Sometimes the Coop is almost empty. But there are always a lot of workers stocking shelves and it can be a little congested.

Today aisles at the Coop were very crowded with workers and shoppers and there was quite a long line on the no-express check-out line.

But the express line wasn’t crowded so I made sure to keep my shopping to 15 items or so.  3 Amy’s Cheese Pizza’s, herb salad, tomatoes, two vegan wrap sandwiches, guacamole, free range chicken thighs, lemon cookies, Havarti cheese…

I waited no more than five minutes on the express line and was easily checked through. I used my Citibank debit card and voila it was oh so easy to pay.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the screen of the new check-out computers. Big, bold, bright. Easy to read.

My card went through quickly. No fuss, no muss. It felt miraculous. They take NYCE and Cirrus and one other one. Someone on line complained that her card hadn’t gone through a few days ago. It was a non-NYCE or Cirrus bank card from out of state that she said, "Usually works at NYCE locations."

I packed my food in a box and went straight to the door, where a member looked at my receipt and let me go…

Park Slope’s Nica Lalli, a member of Community Board 6 and a former PTA president, is the author of Nothing: Something to Believe In, a memoir about atheism.

This Sunday she’s speaking at the Sunday service of the famous Judson Memorial Church (55 Washington Square South in Greenwich Village). You can read her recent recent Op-Ed piece in USA Today by clicking here.

Nothing: Something to Believe In
Join guest speaker Nica Lalli, the author of Nothing: Something to
Believe In,
a memoir that tells the story of her life outside of organized religion
and chronicles her experiences while confronting the broader issues of
faith, tolerance, and respect in the confusing religious landscape of
America. Nica Lalli is an art educator working with the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, and is also a member of her local community board and a
former PTA president. 
Sunday Service begins promptly at 11:00 a.m.

A good time was had by all who gathered to celebrate the birthday and the book of these twins, who were separated at birth.

Their book is called Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited.

It must have been surreal for the twins, who  were deprived of so many birthdays together, to hear a huge crowd of friends and family sing Happy Birthday at Le Gamin in Prospect Heights. This one had to be one of the best birthdays of their lives.

The birthday cake, white cake with creamy chocolate icing, was delicious and sweet, too. It was made at Ladybird Bakery in Park Slope (the new Two LIttle Red Hens on 8th Avenue near 12th Street).

I met Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein two years ago at a Brooklyn Reading Works event about adoption. They were just setting out on their journey of writing this memoir.

My sister and I were interviewed by Paula and Elyse at Sweet Melilssa’s. That interview is included in the book.

Now the book is done, it’s getting raves and the twins are about to set off on a national book tour.

They’ve already been on Good Morning America, Fox News, and 60-Minutes.  They’ll be in People Magazine later this week. Even Wired Magazine had this to say:

This absorbing chronicle, written by recently reunited twin sisters who
had been unaware that they were subjects of a 1960s study on heritable
mental illness, casts a decisive vote for nature over nurture. — Joanna Pearlstein (Wired)

A heartfelt congratulations to Paula and Elyse. Thanks for including me and my twin sister in your book.

Unlike Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, Bette Midler is a super cool, classy celebrity who uses her celebrity to do really good things.

She’s even married to a German performance artist named Martin Von Haselberg.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the press was obsessed with her rather than say, Paris, Lindsey or Britney? Bette  is the founder of the New York Restoration Project, which in addition to many other activities aims to plant one million trees in and around the NYC area by 2017.

The City Room reported yesterday that Mayor Bloomberg and Bette Midler, formally initiated the
Million Trees NYC campaign yesterday with lots of hoopla and folderol. 

"When I moved to New York, I was very disappointed in how parts of the
city looked. I was so upset, I didn’t sleep for weeks. I love New
Yorkers, and I’m like them—I’m noisy, I have my opinions—but I’m not
used to the kind of carelessness and waste that I was seeing. People
were throwing their garbage out the window, leaving their lunches on
the ground. Finally, I realized I needed to actually do something—even
if I had to pick up the stuff with my own hands." Bette told Good Housekeeping Magazine when she first started the project.

Bette  believes that green neighborhoods are essential components to the quality of life and community. She considers NYRP, a
"conservancy of forgotten places," particularly in New York City’s
underserved communities.

One million trees? Here’s why (from the NYRP website).

Trees curb carbon emissions and water pollution, cool our streets, have
been shown to reduce crime and asthma, raise property values, and
improve the overall health of city residents. Yet over the past 25
years, American cities have lost up to 30% of their tree canopy to
development. NYRP and the City of New York are leading an initiative to
plant one million trees in public and private open spaces throughout
the five boroughs over the next decade. Million Trees NYC is a citywide
collaboration with community, non-profit, government, and corporate
partners, and the citizens of NYC. We will focus on communities with
the greatest need for green. Other core elements of the initiative will
include tree maintenance, urban forestry research, community outreach,
public education, and advocacy.

For the last few days, Rachel’s Taqueria, on Fifth Avenue near 7th Street, has been closed for renovations. I walk by there every few days on the way to Hollywood Video.

I saw the owners cool red vintage pickup truck parked across the street night after night. Finally last night, the door was open and I peeked in to see a shining new bar. It looked nice from what I could see.

Not sure what this means. I am guessing that Rachel’s will still be the great take-out, eat-in burrito place that it is (it is related to the California Taqueria on Seventh Avenue near Berkeley Place, which is ALWAYS PACKED at dinner time and many other times of day).

But now they’ve got a bar. Margarita’s anyone?

Gowanus Lounge reports that Beso, the Latin fusion bistro and  beloved brunch spot on Fifth Avenue has closed. I don’t question that it might have closed but I do think the reason he gives is incorrect. 

GL writes, "It closed
yesterday, reported because the landlord jacked up the rent
significantly. (We hear it was by many, many thousands of dollars a
month.)"

I happen to know that the one of the owners of Beso owns building and that’s why it’s been able to function at minimal capacity during the week.

Some people I know work at Beso and I will get the word from them.

My guess is: the owners of Beso sold the building or the owners of the building sold the business. Does anyone know the real story?

The Loka Chantha Temple and American Burma Buddhist Association is on Bergen Street. The website has this message:

Praying for the Buddhist monks and peaceful demonstrators who were killed for the well-being of people in Burma.

For news of the terrible situation in Burma there’s Burmanet, which provides coverage of news and opinions on Burma from around the world.

a

Travis Ruse, who won a 2007 Photo Bloggie for Express Train, his photo blog about the subway and the people who ride it, wrote to say that there’s going to be a TAG SALE on his block.

He also asked for my advice about the best place in Park Slope to hang a sign. I like the fence on Third Street just west of Seventh Avenue next to Tempo Presto. It’s sort of a perfect spot for flyers (and people don’t remove them). The window of Pino’s is good. Do you know any other spots?

This tag sale is on one of the great blocks in the south Slope (not Windsor Terrace as I had erroneously said be for

"Not sure if you post these sort of items
but our block is having its first block wide tag sale in at least
5 years on Saturday 10/13, 10am to 3pm.  If you can’t post it can
you send me in a direction of the best place to hang a sign?

We’re on Webster Place, it’s a one block street between Prospect Ave. and 16th street."

Hepcat says he saw a "For Lease" sign on the window of the old D’Agostino on Seventh Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets.

I thought Bank of America was going in there. Anyone know what’s going on?

The New York Daily News reports that there’s a new bowling alley in Greenpoint. The first new alley in 50 years.

Keglers rejoice!

A new bowling alley has struck Brooklyn for the first time in 50 years – less than a year after a Bay Ridge alley was closed and converted into a parking garage.

The Gutter, an eight-lane bowling alley on an industrial strip of N. 14th St. in Greenpoint, is Brooklyn’s latest bar to substitute billiards and darts for arcade games, boccie ball, SkeeBall and other attractions.

“Brooklyn lends itself to doing these larger scale gaming bars in a way that Manhattan doesn’t,” said co-owner Paul Kermizian, 32, of Williamsburg. “It’s much more available and affordable to do this type of thing in Brooklyn.”

Joe Borgia, a manager at Melody Lanes in Sunset Park, said opening a bowling alley in Brooklyn during such a rocky real estate market can be risky – but not impossible.

“It’s a tough business right now,” said Borgia. “What’s happening is real estate is taking over everywhere so people are saying to themselves, ‘Why should I open a business when I can just buy and sell real estate?’ So what you’re seeing is movie theaters closing, roller rinks closing and bowling alleys closing. It’s tough.

As expected, the check-out lines at the Food Coop are very long this weekend. An OTBKB reader and Coop member writes in:

i worked today and it was a bit crazy – the debit system only takes
some types of cards, so that was a bummer since they didn’t take mine,
and the lines got to the longest i’ve ever seen, but for the most part,
same as it usually is on a weekend.

I’d love to see a list of the types of cards the Coop debit system takes. Did this guy have some kind of werid card or what?

Got this note from a friend who is involved with Parents for Climate Protection. They will be in JJ Byrne Park (Fifth Avenue and third Street) during the Harvest Festival on October 12.

If you are planning to go to the Harvest Festival sponsored by Park Slope Parents and JJ Byrne Park on October 12 from 1 – 4, please come over to the table for Parents for Climate Protection and write and decorate a letter with or without your child.

We do these letter-writing campaigns to try to influence our senators and congress people to do the right thing on the issue of climate change. Our current letter-writing campaign is in support of the global warming protection bill sponsored by Senators Barbara Boxer and Sanders (S. 309).

We provide construction paper, glue, glitter, scissors, etc., and even some templates of what you and your child could write. It only takes a few minutes, and each personalized letter is the equivalent of a thousand emails, in terms of the impact it can have. We’ll even mail the letters for you!

Gossip Girl, the new show by the makers of the OC is definitely going to be the new show you’ll love to hate.

Its depiction of the upper-crust teenage crowd on the Upper East Side is silly and fun. The real New York locations give the series the only verisimilitude it’s got. These kids are like no teenagers I’ve ever met but I can’t decide if that’s because I didn’t go to Brearley or they’re just written all wrong.

Half the fun of the show for me is that the narrator (Gossip Girl) is an un-seen blogger. No one knows her identity, but everyone in this fancy, shmancy, Upper East Side prep school circle relies on her website and text messages for the latest  dish. 

There’s nasty nasty stuff going on between social butterfly Serena and closest friend, Blair Waldorf. You see, Serena slept with Blair’s boyfriend and Blair is a vindictive, mean-spirited, Beyatch. 

The cute, smart outsider is Dan from BROOKLYN. A middle class kid (ha), he has a nice sister and a rock ‘n roll dad and they live in a "funky" artist’s loft in WILLIAMBSURG or DUMBO (I don’t know what happened to his mom).

The father, who is very handsome in a manly New York artist sort of way, is always apologizing to his son for not having the right name or the cash that would make it easy for his son to survive among his snotty friends.

He also has tons of romantic back story with Serena’s super snotty, ultra bitchy mom who was once a rock and roll groupie.

You gotta get a load of their Brooklyn life-style. Their sprawling loft has brick walls, art all over the place, and lots of furniture from Design Within Reach and West Elm. They’re not poor by a long shot they’re just FUNKY Brooklyn folk.

Dan is, of course, the coolest, smartest, and most ethical character in the show (sort of the Seth of this show in OC-speak). Unlike the other kids, who go to the best colleges on the legacy plan, he really reads books and THINKS.

That’s Brooklyn for you.

The show is on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. on CW. So don’t call me then. I’ll be watching and I don’t want to be disturbed.

Because of the Jewish holiday Simhat Torah, alternate-side
street-cleaning regulations will be suspended in New York City today.
Other regulations remain in effect.

The ever-analytical Norman Oder of Atlantic Yard Report discusses Park Slopes’s citing as one of the ten great nabes in the nation (by the American Planning Organization).

So the challenge is to harmonize the social needs of Brooklyn with the
virtues of a great neighborhood. These days the city tries to do that
through a rezoning–except when it lets the state override zoning, as with Atlantic Yards, allowing what is essentially a privately negotiated density bonus.

Obviously it’s going to take some time for Coop workers and shoppers to adjust to the new debit machines.

If anyone goes to the Coop today, please let us know how it’s going.

Park Slope has made the 2007 list of great American neighborhoods put together by the American Planning Organization, which had this to say about its new national program:

"The American Planning Organization celebrates the first 10 Great Streets and 10 Great Neighborhoods
designated through its new national program, Great Places in America.
Launched last spring, Great Places in America celebrates places of
exemplary character, quality, and planning. Places are selected
annually and represent the gold standard of communities, offering
Americans better choices for where and how to work and live."

 The other 9 neighborhoods are:

Chatham Village in Pittsburg***Eastern Market in Washington, DC***Elmwood Village in Buffalo, NY***First Addition in Lake Oswego, Oregon****Hillcrest in San Diego****North Beach in San Francisco***Old West Austin in Austin, Texas***Pike Place Market in Seattle***West Urbana in Illinois.

Congratulations to all the nabes who made the list.   

How’s it going over there with those new fangled debit machines? 

I got an email from someone at the Red Hook school I mentioned yesterday. They don’t want any more books and don’t want to be mentioned on the blog.

OTBKB would like to personally thank everyone who heeded the call. The Community Bookstore is setting up a library in a school in New Orleans. I will get more info on this and let you all know.

It was called to my attention that there was mention of our book
drive on your Blog site.  I do not know who sent it to you.

Secondly, I am totally swamped by offers of books and
cannot keep up the demand so I would appreciate your removing that
notice.

I got an email today from a casting director. She’s looking for a couple of dynamic women for an INTERNAL makeover television show for the Discovery channel.

I thought she was calling about using me. Who told her that I need a makeover?

But she’s looking for someone in her 30’s. Oh well. I don’t need an INTERNAL makeover anyway. Or do I? Here’s what she’s looking for:

This week and next we are casting women for a makeover show…. with a twist!

This makeover focuses on an INTERNAL makeover…. from an emotional and mental standpoint. You will be paired with a renowned life coach for 5 days.

We are looking for a vibrant, interesting, layered woman with family & friends close by. (We are looking for participation of family & friends if applicable).

Please send response with answers to the following questions:

Age? Location? Occupation?

Describe your family… you parents, siblings, and kids if you have any.

What’s your relationship status? Single, married, etc. Describe that area of your life.

What do you need help with? How could this experience benefit you? What do your family/friends think you need help with?

How’s your relationship with your mother and father?

What would those close to you say is "getting in your way"?

Describe your "everyday."

Please attach a picture of youself and send this in an email to casting at eliza.babcock(at)citylightsmedia(dotcom)

Ladder 122 on 11th Street betwen 7th and 8th Avenue in Park Slope will be celebrating their centennial on October 18th at 11 am. in front of the firehouse.

They’re selling FDNY Ladder Company 122 Centennial t-shirts on eBay.

Serving Brooklyn for a 100 years.

Offical House Shirt.

Only 250 shirts made

We have all sizes (S- XXL)

The Park Slope Food Coop was closed on Monday in order to install their new debit machine system. This will enable Coop shoppers to pay for their food after check-out. They will not have to wait on the old cashier line.

But I love the cashier line (just kidding).

Wonder how the installation went?

A friend said that she won’t set foot int the Coop tomorrow because the check-out lines will be super slow as Coop workers and shoppers adjust to the new system.

Actually I am dying to go shopping there tomorrow. For one thing, we don’t have much food in the fridge.

For another, I just wanna see the new technology in action.

In honor of the 100th birthday of the Plaza Hotel, which is now being  converted into one of the most expensive condo properties ever, I found this old post about my last tea at the Plaza in 2005. A smaller, boutique Plaza Hotel will be opening soon.

One Saturday in 2005, Diaper Diva, OSFO, and I attended a tea at the Plaza.  We
were invited to join DD’s friend and thirty of her closest
friends: a power lunch for creative interesting women of all ages. Even
her gynecologist was there giving out business cards. And when she ran out, she
wrote her name down on small scraps of paper.

I was very pleased to be included as I was dying for one last trip
to the Plaza before it closes. I’d never met DD’s friend before,
a tall, attractive television art director, with a warm personality and
a penchant for bringing people together. She looked absolutely
Plaza-ish in a vintage cloche hat with a tall feather and her
grandmother’s old-fashioned gloves. She welcomed everyone personally
and gave each of us Plaza candy bars, postcards, and unlimited amounts
of champagne.

I sat at a table  with an assortment of well-traveled, accomplished
women. One, a filmmaker of Persian descent, is on her way to Baghdad
next month for the second time as part of a humanitarian group made up
of Quakers and Mennonite Christians; she’s making a film about  her
experiences there.

OSFO is a great afficianado of the Eloise books so a trip to
the Plaza to see the portrait of Eloise is always a treat. She is aware
that the Plaza is closing and has decided that Eloise is moving to
Paris, along with Skipperdee and Weannie, to be with her mother.

OSFO is, however, concerned about where Nanny and Mr. Salamone will
relocate. In an Eloise sort of way, my daughter spent much of the tea
collecting white plastic Plaza Hotel tea sandwich tooth picks (see
photograph, above left).

When we arrived at  the hotel,  I asked one of the doormen if he’d
seen Eloise. "I think she’s around here somewhere," he said cheerfully.
He then turned to another doorman and asked, "Have you seen Eloise?"

His willingness to go along with the game was very endearing. We
then asked a managerial looking person if he knew where to find the
hotel manager, Mr. Salomone. He looked at us like we were crazy and
said he didn’t know anyone by that name.

Key Food is going green. The store on Seventh Avenue at Carroll Street is painting their sign green, that is. First we thought it was being painted a putrid yellow over the old red. But that ugly yellow must’ve been the undercoat.

Now they’re painting it green. Diaper Diva reports. Green she says.

Hepcat loved the old red color. He is very sad. That sign was his muse: he took so many photographs of it. But maybe he’ll like the green.

Chchchchanges.

On October 13th at at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, join Cool and Unusual Punishment for their annual benefit concert. This year’s concert, Teens for Darfur, features a great line-up of local teen bands.

The Cool and Unusual benefit concert is an annual event. Teens for Darfur follows last year’s Teens for the Phillipines, which raised money for an orphanage for Manila street children, and 2005’s Teens for New Orleans, which raised money for musicians after Katrina.

This year’s concert features: Cool and Unusual, Dulaney Banks, Post No Bills, Banzai, and the newly re-formed, The Floor is Lava (Google their MySpace pages for info on all bands).

It should be a great, great show. The minimum donation for adults is $10. For kids: $5. There also will be refreshments for sale and plenty of information about the situation in Darfur and the American Jewish World Service  Refugee  Relief Effort in Darfur, where the band is sending their contribution.

The show starts at 6 p.m. at the Old Stone House. Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street. For more information contact louise_crawford(at)yahoo(dotcom).

A friend sent me a note about a new kind of physician in Williamsburg. He even has a blog.

I checked out Dr. Parkinson’s web site and it’s VERY interesting. He is most definitely not your typical doctor.

Check out the info below. Thanks to my friend for sending this in.

Dr. Jay Parkinson, a 31-year-old general practitioner, is opening a
solo practice today in which he plans to treat young, healthy,
uninsured New Yorkers in person by house call and over e-mail, IM and
video chat.

For a transcript of this interview, visit wavLength.

http://www.jayparkinsonmd.com/
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/

I got a press release yesterday bout a rally by Fresh Direct workers and labor leaders on Friday outside the company’s Long Island City headquarters.

There is outrage because of the firing of two employees who were attempting to organize workers secure benefits, reasonable hours and fairer pay for their co-workers.

The rally is Friday morning at 9:30 am at Borden Avenue and 23rd Street in Long Island City, Queens.

Here’s an after-rally update from Evan Thies from Berlin Rosen Public Affairs.

 September 28, 2007 – Workers at food delivery
giant FreshDirect rallied with labor leaders and more than 100 protesters today
outside the company’s Long
  Island City
headquarters, outraged at the firing of two employees who were organizing to
secure benefits, reasonable hours and fair pay for their co-workers.

Warehouse
workers Loreto Gomez and Lonnie Powell were fired from their jobs at
FreshDirect earlier this month after they complained of poor working conditions
and publicly participated in a Teamsters’ organizing campaign at the
Internet-based grocer.

"I walked in to work with a union t-shirt on and FreshDirect fired me soon
after,” said Lonnie Powell, one of the two warehouse workers who were
terminated after encouraging their co-workers to unionize.  “All we
want to do is organize so that we can make sure our rights as workers are
protected.  FreshDirect is trying to keep us from doing that.  If
they ran a business that treated their employees fairly, this would have never
happened.”

The
fired workers cited standard shifts in excess of 12 hours, forced overtime, low
pay and unaffordable benefit plans as their reasons for organizing fellow
employees at FreshDirect.  Warehouse workers at FreshDirect start at just
$7.25 an hour while most workers make less than $9, with family healthcare
costs so high that employees can’t afford the plan, workers said.
By comparison, the average Teamster warehouse worker in the Tri-state area
earns $14 to $15 an hour plus employer-paid healthcare and pension
benefits.  Teamster workers also start at a much higher wage—$10 to
$12 an hour.

Teamsters
presidents and other labor leaders called the firings at the 800-person
Queens facility inexcusable, demanding swift changes by
FreshDirect to treat employees fairly and guarantee worker safety.  The
labor leaders said they would push hard for the workers to be re-instated and
for FreshDirect to allow organizing at the warehouse.

“The
firing of these workers is outrageous,” said Sandy Pope, President of
Teamsters Local 805.  “FreshDirect’s employees are sending a
message to the company brass that they feel they are being treated unfairly,
and now that they are trying to give their movement a voice, the company is
trying to shut them up.  In order for FreshDirect to be the respected,
thriving company it can be, it has to provide safer working conditions and treat
its workers fairly.

.”