NYC's Last Milk Processing Plant To Close In October

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City's last milk processing plant is shutting down after nearly a century in operation, putting more than 270 people out of work.

Officials at Elmhurst Dairy in Queens say the 97-year-old company will shut down its operations at the end of October, primarily because of a major drop in demand for its product.

The family-owned and operated dairy plant located in Jamaica processed raw milk from upstate farms, bottled it and distributed it across the city. A large part of its business was delivering milk in small cartons to public schools around the Big Apple.

The company's website said it supplies milk to 8,300 stores and 1,400 public schools.

As CBS2's Vanessa Murdock reported, the owner hopes to create a new business at the site, but nearly 300 employees are now looking for new jobs.

Company CEO Henry Schwartz, whose father and uncle started Elmhurst Dairy, says the plant is no longer profitable.

The plant has been a mainstay on Styler Road since 1936, but now long-time employees are wondering where their paychecks will come from once the factory closes on October 30.

"I'm already missing this place. I'm supporting my family, feeding my family, I;m working here 21-years. This place is my life," Singh Hundal said.

Schwartz has spoken fondly of his father who first started the business in Queens in 1919. He said he tried to keep the business running, but has lost tens of millions of dollars in recent years because of consumer's changing habits.

"We were making nature's most perfect food and delivering it to millions of people throughout the New York City area," he said, "Believe it or not, they're not drinking pasteurized milk anymore. There has been an enormous decline."

At its height in the 70s and 80s, the milk factory employed nearly 600 people with good paying jobs. Forklift operator LeGrand Quick called it the best job he has ever had,

"I have nothing bad t say bout this company, like I said I was able to make a living here, what more can you ask for," he said.

The workers will not get severance pay, but some will be offered jobs at the company's other food related businesses upstate and in New Jersey.

The owner said he is considering another business at the site, possibly entertainment related.

"We expect to go ahead and take our 16 acres and make it into new businesses that employ even more people," Schwarz said.

Schwartz added that most of the existing buildings will be torn down, ending a century old dairy legacy.

Regular milk consumption has declined as people have turned to alternatives such as almond milk and also highly filtered and processed national brands of milk.

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