Part of the floor plan devoted to a new, 400-seat restaurant inside the historic Lundy’s space in Sheepshead Bay is what developers are calling an “ancillary use” gourmet foods market. The controversial Cherry Hill Market, the Buildings Department contends, is actually just a grocery store by another name.
Last week, an ‘eleventh hour’ stop work order was issued for the “98% of work completed” site, specifically because grocery stores are not allowed to exist within the Sheepshead Bay Special District, a 20-block waterfront parcel on Emmons Avenue where Lundy’s has stood for 75 years.
Cherry Hill Market was scheduled to open this week. Use of the Lundy’s building—and by extension, its legacy—has seemingly divided the opinions of the Sheepshead Bay community. Some contend that Cherry Hill opponents are delaying the creation of sorely needed new jobs for the area, and that job creation trumps preservation.
Others still question the nature and timing of the stop work order, which coincided with a photo op with State Senator Carl Kruger outside of the old Lundy’s space; the ad hoc press conference and shutdown took place on Good Friday and Passover. Can anyone in Sheepshead Bay area give us their take on the Cherry Hill controversy?
