Red Hook Fairway Reopens After Being Hit By Sandy
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Red Hook, Brooklyn's recovery from superstorm Sandy took a huge leap forward Friday with the reopening of the Fairway Market.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Charles Schumer, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Miss America Mallory Hagan were on hand when the doors opened at 11 a.m.
"Hurricane Sandy may have battered our city, but when we get knocked down we get right back up," Markowitz said. "We rebuild, we rebound and we recover better than ever."
Red Hook Fairway Reopens Today After Being Hit By Sandy
The store took on four feet of water during Sandy; registers floated away and all of the merchandise was ruined.
"I had tears in my eye. I built this store six years ago. It's like one of my children," Fairway founder Howard Glickberg said.
After examining the damage, Glickberg decided to throw everything out and start over.
"Everything in the store had to go," Glickberg told 1010 WINS. "After a month, all we had left in the store were the floor and the walls."
Glickberg was determined to get the store open as quickly as possible, stressing that the supermarket is not just a foodie haven, but vital to the community.
"We have an obligation, not just to Fairway, but to all of Red Hook and all of Van Brunt Street, to get everybody up and running again," Glickberg said. "The whole store is new. Every fixture is new. We've widened the aisles, we've changed the flow of the store."
Red Hook Fairway Reopens Today After Being Hit By Sandy
Excited customers couldn't wait to get inside and start shopping again.
"I was counting the minutes and here we are," one woman said.
"I missed it terribly," another woman said.
Red Hook Winery and the popular Lobster Pound are also back in business.
