Daily News: Planned merger of city’s two largest beer distributors could threaten thousands of minority-owned bodegas

A merger of Manhattan Beer Distributors and Phoenix Beehive Beverage Distributors would create one massive company capable of imposing a chokehold on the city’s beer market. Bodegas sell 60% to 70% of all the beer in New York.

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Opinion: Fresh Direct & NYC: A Not So Wonderful Life

During this holiday season, we at NYAGS hope New Yorkers and especially the ESD will consider the importance of traditional small business in New York City. That’s why we’ve put together the following tale based on Frank Capra’s “Its A Wonderful Life”

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NY Observer: Bodegas: A Tax on Plastic Bags is Ineffective and Harmful

From the New York Observer by Ramon Murphy and NYAGS’ Brad Gerstman: The City Council is once again proposing a regulation, Intro 209, that will make it more difficult for city retailers to successfully do business. This time, it’s a 10 cent tax on all plastic bags, with the stated goal of getting New Yorkers […]

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Empire State Development Announces Public Hearing on Fresh Direct Relocation Plan

There is no real way of knowing how this project will ultimately affect the community and environment around it. NYAGS stands in opposition to ESD’s plan in order to protect the interests of New York’s brick and mortar grocers.

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NYT: In New York, a Nose for Hidden Compartments and Cigarettes

From The New York Times: Deputy Sheriff Donel Davis, who prides himself for having a nose for this sort of thing, walked into a bodega in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, one day this week and looked around: cramped aisles, Boar’s Head cold cuts, candy, the morning papers, sticky buns, cold beer. He walked behind the counter to […]

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