On April 1st the Queens Tribune alerted area residents that a Wal-Mart was moving into the neighborhood. The article (credited to Wiegot A. Bigbocks) has since been taken down... because it was an April Fools prank. LOL Queens, right?! Not so much. Today the Daily News reports that locals were outraged over the idea that the evil corporation was making a new home for themselves in the area.
The article, which ran with a Photoshopped image of the store in Atlas Park, was not well-received by union members. A spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 told the paper, "Some people looked at the story and thought it was real. Dozens of our members called in, a little freaked out. We're good-humored people, but this one just cut a little too close." In the past the union has threatened picket lines when phone surveys asked their opinion on the retailer (who they note "provides poor working conditions for non-union employees").
The paper's editor responded to the outrage by saying, "We apologize if anybody actually thought that Walmart was coming in without any hearing on the community level. The Tribune would have certainly covered it months in advance." At least Reverend Billy didn't get word of this; when rumors were going around that the store would be setting up shop in Manhattan, he told us: "Wal-Mart in New York City? DEVIL GET THEE BEHIND ME! I will take that company to the LAKE OF HELLFIRE!"
