After Hurricane Sandy devastated Red Hook’s beloved Fairway Market, the entire neighborhood has suffered as many that visited the grocery from the surrounding vicinity also stopped supporting other local businesses that depend on so much traffic from the anchor store.
Good news: Fairway is set to reopen March 1, according to the New York Daily News, after 5 feet of water filled the 52,000sf waterfront grocery store, damaging all equipment, including refrigerators, cash registers and merchandise. The market was gutted, along with a $10 million price tag to put in a new bake area and cafe, wider aisles and new equipment. Workers are now putting the finishing touches on the store.
And to the credit of Vice Chairman Howie Glickberg, most employees were never out of work as the store has put itself back together. Fairway officials set up shuttle buses so employees could work at other outlets within the chain. “We have an obligation. We’re the cornerstone of Red Hook,” Glickberg said. “This area was devastated and we had an obligation to take care of our workers.”
All 300 workers at the store on Van Brunt Street were rerouted to other Fairway markets, some as far away as Douglaston, Queens and Westbury, Long Island. 
