Officials are celebrating the completion of a grocery store in Troy, part of a $75 million development on River Street.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s office says the 20,000-square foot Bargain Grocery will address food insecurity downtown. Overall, the Flanigan Square development will include three buildings, 200 housing units and commercial space. Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello says the city is a federally recognized food desert.
“There's efforts to try to get fruit and veggies. The farmers market, of course, they donate to some of the nonprofits, but it's just not enough. And I told the story how I see kids literally take a quarter of a slice of pizza stuff in their pocket to bring it home to their family so they have dinner that night or breakfast the next morning,” Mantello said. “That's unacceptable. The three things that are so important to people, and that's safety, food and shelter.”
The project is funded in part by $6.7 million in state grants, $9 million in state tax credits and $400,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act.
A new report by state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli finds nearly one-in-five New York children live in poverty. According to the Official Poverty Measure, 18.8 percent of New York children were in poverty in 2022. Nearly half of those children were classified as living in deep poverty – meaning they are in a household with an income less than 50 percent of the federal poverty line. Upstate cities, including Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, have child poverty rates more than double the average rate of cities of similar size. The Democrat said a $50 million anti-poverty program in the new state budget, to address the highest concentrations of child poverty in upstate cities, could serve as a statewide model.
Mike Servello is the founder and CEO of Compassion Coalition, a nonprofit backing Bargain Grocery. Once completed, the Troy location will be the store’s second location. In 2018, a Utica location opened, donating more than $1 million in product each week. Servello says the cost for consumers is typically 30 percent less than big box stores.
“We don't want to be a bargain store for people that have options. We want to serve the people that are here that have to walk, right? We think about like, we call it food justice, right,” Servello said. “What happens as urbanization occurs, wherever they develop, they push the poor people to the edges, where nobody else wants to live, and then there's no goods and services there.”
It will sell fresh, local produce, freshly made hot food and bakery items and other typical grocery store fare.
Congressman Paul Tonko says the Farm Bill, which sets U.S. agricultural, food, and nutrition policy through 2029, would provide much-needed support for New York farmers and low-income families. The Republican-led House unveiled the $1.5 trillion Farm, Food, and National Security Act in May. The Democrat who represents the 20th District says more than 75,000 people are food insecure in his district.
“There's a resistance by the majority, the Republican majority, to do what's right by programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) with cuts proposed that would equal $30 billion nationwide over a decade, it’s just totally unacceptable. It's unkind. It's really missing the point,” Tonko said. “We need to provide nutritious food for children who are growing, for elderly who may be ill or who need to maintain their health. And for veterans and people who are under 60 who have disabilities, it's absolutely essential to be there for those who are impacted by food insecurity, by hunger, by food deserts.”
Nathaniel Bette is a project manager with First Columbia working on the Flanigan Square Transformation Project. Bette says the project aims to revitalize the neighborhood.
“We're trying to basically take what you would see in the inline strip centers in the suburbs and say, those same users can exist in the city, too. You just need the anchor to kind of bring traffic here, and the rest of them can benefit from that anchoring with the grocery store across the street,” Bette said.
The store is expected to open this summer.