Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, State Senate President Pro Tempore Malcolm A. Smith, Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero and United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 Executive Vice President Anthony Speelman broke ground today for a major new supermarket at the Arverne by the Sea development complex on the Rockaway Peninsula. The $23 million, 55,000-square-foot Stop & Shop supermarket will be located on Rockaway Beach Boulevard between Beach 73rd and Beach 69th Streets. It will be part of the City's Arverne by the Sea development, which will include 2,300 units of affordable and market-rate housing, parkland, a new school, and 270,000-square-feet of commercial retail space. The supermarket will create 200 construction jobs over the 16 months it will take to build, and, once complete, it will employ 100 full-time and part-time workers. As part of the City's 2008 "Going to Market" study, Arverne was found to have a high need for more supermarkets. The announcement took place at the Arverne by the Sea development on Spinnaker Drive.

"Arverne has undergone an amazing transformation from a swath of vacant land to a vibrant and growing community," said Mayor Bloomberg. "This will be a great addition to the community and is the latest sign that our comprehensive investment in the Rockaway Peninsula - through the creation of affordable housing, infrastructure, recreation and retail space - will pay dividends for years to come."

"As a source of jobs and an anchor business to encourage future economic growth, bringing Stop & Shop to Arverne will breathe new life into the local economy," said State Senate President Pro Tempore Smith. "The Rockaways have undergone a significant renaissance due to sound investment from the business community and a strong comittment from local leaders to create jobs and develop the economy. I applaud Mayor Bloomberg and all those involved today for helping to provide our community with the tools it needs for lasting economic growth and a brighter future."

"Today's celebration showcases the progress we have made in creating this brand new oceanfront community. Stop & Shop is here because we have built the infrastructure to support it and to guarantee its success," said Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Cestero. "Their investment here is remarkable given that a few short years ago this land was vacant - empty and desolate. Now they have an eager client base waiting for their doors to swing open! More than that, it demonstrates that our strategy for new, large-scale development works in good times and bad. New York City can and is moving new construction projects forward in this downturn."

"This new Stop & Shop is a win for the people of Arverne and for the UFCW Local 1500 members here in the Rockaway community," said UFCW Local 1500 Executive Vice President Anthony Speelman. "Through a smart development plan, the City is not just bringing a new and much-needed supermarket to the area, it's bringing good jobs for hardworking people that will contribute to the overall economic stabilization and resurgence of the area."

Last month, New York City Economic Development Corporation authorized $5.5 million in tax-exempt bond financing made available through stimulus funds for the new supermarket. It will offer the full range and choice of products, including international, natural, organic, and ethnic and specialty foods, in a safe and convenient one-stop environment that local residents have not had access to before. Other amenities will include a Western Union, Rug Doctor, Coin Star, self check-out registers, and an in-store full-service bank.

The building will incorporate numerous eco-conscious design features. Energy efficiency will be leveraged through systems such as an Energy Star-rated reflective white roof, which will reduce energy consumption by reducing building heat, energy efficient equipment, daylight harvesting from skylights and windows, lighting with occupancy sensors and dimmable controls, and low-flow water fixtures. The site will also include use of bioswale retention systems around the perimeter of the parking field to provide storm water pretreatment.

"We are proud to be part of the economic resurgence of this community with the construction of a supermarket that will combine the latest in customer services, energy conservation and consumer value under one modern roof," said Stop & Shop Supermarkets said Director of Communications Faith Weiner. "We guarantee an extraordinary shopping experience from the moment the shopper steps past the beautifully landscaped entrance to the time they check out having gathered value from every aisle."

"We are excited that Stop and Shop is coming to Arverne By the Sea, and thank the Mayor and his team for helping make Arverne by the Sea a flourishing and diverse oceanfront town where milestones like these are possible," said Arverne by the Sea, LLC Project Executive Gerry Romski.

The Large Scale Arverne Program is part of Mayor Bloomberg's New Housing Marketplace Plan to build and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing for 500,000 New Yorkers. The entire Arverne project in the Arverne Urban Renewal Area totals 308-acres and is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of Arverne by the Sea, Water's Edge, and Arverne East, which at completion will create a total of 3,600 units of housing for 10,000 New Yorkers. More than 1,100 of those units will be affordable to middle-income families.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Arverne was a prosperous beach community, but through the 1950's the area declined until 308 acres along the shoreline were designated the Arverne Urban Renewal Area in 1964. In 1998, the Arverne Working Committee produced a plan that became the basis for the area's first Request for Proposals.  The City has reached the final phase of redevelopment of the Arverne Urban Renewal Area, which was once the largest tract of vacant City-owned land to be developed for housing.

The Bloomberg Administration's Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan is a comprehensive strategy to bring New York City through the current economic downturn as fast as possible. It focuses on three major areas: creating jobs for New Yorkers today, implementing a long-term vision for growing the city's economy, and building affordable, attractive neighborhoods in every borough. Taken together, the initiatives that the City has launched to achieve these goals will generate thousands of jobs and put New York City on a path to economic recovery and growth. To learn more about the plan, visit nyc.gov.