Working on keeping Hempstead's Stop & Shop open

With the announcement that the Hempstead Stop & Shop, at 132 Fulton Ave. is one of four being closed by Ahold Delhaize USA that owns the supermarket chain, Nassau County Legislators Siela Bynoe and Scott Davis wrote the company a letter opposing the decision.

The letter was addressed to Maura O’Brien, the government affairs manager for Ahold Delhaize USA, the company that owns Stop & Shop, and it details the “many unresolved issues related to the potential loss of a vital community hub” that the legislators feel will negatively impact the community.

“We are deeply concerned about how Hempstead Village residents may experience intensified difficulties in acquiring fresh, nutritious, and affordable food in a community that was recently designated a food desert by experts,” Bynoe and Davis in the letter.

A food desert is defined as an area or community that has a low access to healthy and affordable foods.

The legislators assert in the letter that the Stop & Shop location is the only classified supermarket operating within Hempstead Village, meaning that its closure would “escalate food inequality within the community by dramatically constricting consumer choice and curtailing access to affordable nutrition options.”

People who face transportation challenges, including seniors, would have to find ways to travel further for their grocery needs, they added.

In comparison, East Meadow, another Stop & Shop location designated to be closed, has three other major supermarkets where community members can shop, according to Bynoe and Davis. They draw comparisons between Hempstead and East Meadow to demonstrate the greater toll the decision would take on Hempstead residents.

Using recent census data, the lawmakers note that Hempstead’s median household income of $80,350 is “significantly less” than East Meadow’s of $129,258, and that the poverty rate in Hempstead — 16 percent — is nearly triple East Meadow’s rate of 5.9 percent.

The lack of health insurance in Hempstead can cause problems for people who may now struggle to access nutritious foods with the potential closure of the store, according to the legislators, with 13.2 percent of residents under the age of 65 uninsured. East Meadow’s figure is much lower at 5.1 percent.

“The departure of a reliable source of nutritional options threatens to exacerbate existing healthcare disparities in Hempstead Village,” they wrote in the letter.

Bynoe and Davis implore Ahold Delhaize to reconsider closing the Hempstead Village Stop and Shop and instead “identify pathways” to keep the facility open in a way that benefits the business as well.

“The decision to close our Hempstead store was a difficult one, and only made after careful analysis and deliberation as we know our stores are closely embedded in our communities,” spokesman Dan Wolk wrote in an email.

He noted that Hempstead will continue to have home delivery after the store’s closure, and a school partnership will to donate $20,000 to Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School and David Paterson Elementary School.