The FRESH program, previously offering zoning incentives for grocery store development in 19 districts around New York City, will expand to 11 new locations.
New York City Planning Commission (CPC) Chair Marisa Lago yesterday announced the expansion of the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program, which is designed to bring convenient, accessible grocery stores to underserved New York neighborhoods.
The FRESH program was created in 2009, offering property owners zoning incentives for providing including space for supermarkets in new developments located in mixed residential and commercial districts. The program also allows grocery stores as-of-right in light manufacturing districts, increasing the locations where they can be built,' according to a New York Department of City Planning press release.
The program expansion will add 11 additional lower-income community districts to the 19 districts where the FRESH program already applies.
Numerous soundbites included in the press release reference the disparate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black and Latino communities during the pandemic, and the new opportunities for fresh food the program will provide in some of the neighborhoods that experienced the worst of the pandemic's health and economic outcomes during the pandemic.
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