Covering Conflict in Context, Trump's Retreat, Traffic Lights, Russians on My Mind

Amid all the media coverage of the tragedy in Gaza, an Israeli Op-Ed contributor provided The New York Times with a chilling example of conditions under which reporters cover some war zones. 

While working for the Associated Press, Matti Friedman wrote, “Early in that war (in Gaza in 2008), I complied with Hamas censorship in the form of a threat to one of our Gaza reporters and cut a key detail from an article: that Hamas fighters were disguised as civilians and were being counted as civilians in the death toll. The bureau chief later wrote that printing the truth after the threat to the reporter would have meant ‘jeopardizing his life.’ Nonetheless, we used that same casualty toll throughout the conflict and never mentioned the manipulation.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/opinion/hamas-israel-media-protests.html)

Given a choice between untruthful, misleading reporting or no on-site coverage, I would opt for the latter. Not having a reporter embedded where the action is no doubt would limit the ability to provide a full, factual, eyewitness account. But purposely leaving out details, writing untruths or misleading information, distorts reality and provides an inaccurate record that too often cannot be erased from memory by subsequent corrections.  

Facts, of course, are vital. But so is context. Times columnist Bret Stephens provided much needed context surrounding the explosive events at the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip: https://nyti.ms/2Go1ywM

I don’t have any contacts with Palestinians in Gaza, but over the last eight years I have met more than 50 Israeli women who live along the border with Gaza. Several of them responded to an email I sent asking about conditions along the border.

“Here in Israel you can feel the tension and we pray for a solution that in these days seems sometime farther than ever,” Inbal wrote. 

For Shalhevet, “The media cannot fully explain the situation here for the Israeli settlements surrounding (the) Gaza Strip.

“The daily life is very complicated for both sides, though we are trying to keep our normal daily routine.”

“Strange as it may sound,” said Ofra, “life under constant pressure can be lived. Our sense of security is that the IDF (Israel Defense Force) will always protect us. 

“My young son serves in the Paratroopers Brigade and is guarding the northern border of Israel. I am very worried for his safety. 

“Life goes on, whether we like it or not. Even if we live on a barrel of gunpowder.”

Yael observed, “It is very scary and upsetting that quite a small child can burn tires. Those who sent them don’t have a happy childhood and they have no future as long as their leaders won’t talk. 

“It is very close to the village where we live. It is scary. So many fields of hay have burned, valleys of beautiful nature. Yet, we go to work. I work very close to the border; we have many soldiers around.” 

As if to underscore their sense of anguish and exasperation, Israelis profiled in a Times article the day after the assault on the border fence expressed no glee in the aftermath (https://nyti.ms/2Gl2diQ).

Not to be typecast as dreamers, Gazans as well expressed disillusionment with their leadership. “Nothing achieved,” said Mohammed Haider, 23 (in The Times). “People are dead. They deceived us that we would breach the fence. But that didn’t happen.”

“Our future is lost because of the Jews, and because of Hamas,” said Mahmoud Abu Omar, a 26-year-old with one arm wrapped in bandages (https://nyti.ms/2IxNnaH).

I am encouraged by their forthright comments, but the cynic in me wonders if Haider and Abu Omar have been placed at risk because of their honesty. Hamas does not treat lightly those who openly criticize its rule. Will there be retribution? I doubt The Times will, or be able to, check up on their short and long term safety.

Student Safety: His first instincts usually are acceptable if not good. I believe Donald Trump does have compassion for the students and adults killed at school shootings and other mass murder sites. His first impulse is to rein in our collective Wild West mentality with its pervasive gun availability. 

But then politics takes over. He listens to the clarion call of right wing voters who might abandon him, as if they would ever vote for a Democrat, or find another Republican who could out-Trump Trump. 

So despite saying he could stand up to the gun lobby, Trump caves in. He retreats. Safe to say, Trump would not qualify for inclusion in an updated version of John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage. Trump has no spine. He is the human incarnate of a political bully. He talks tough but weasels out of principled stances when confronted by right wing politics. 

And so, as it happened again in Santa Fe, Texas, we can only wonder how many days before the next school shooting in a town whose residents wonder how it possibly could have happened within their All-American community. But that’s the point—these shootings have come to define America and what it means to be a teenager in America.

Four Decades Later: After last week’s storm and tornados in New York and Connecticut, I heard a news report that all traffic lights in Southbury, Conn., were out because power had been lost. 

Forty-five years ago Gilda and I lived in Seymour, Conn., just a few miles from Southbury. We’d visit there regularly. Neither of us remember any traffic lights in Southbury. 

Russians on My Mind: With just two more episodes of The Americans before the FX series concludes its six season run, Gilda and I watch the drama with a critical eye toward recognizing local White Plains locations. 

Already this season we’ve identified several scenes filmed on Church Street, at the Bocca restaurant and in front of 55 Church Street, as well at the apartment houses at the northern end of Old Mamaroneck Road. 

Our fascination with recognizing White Plains locations began quite by chance about half a year ago. I asked an acquaintance who recently moved from a home in Gedney Farms how she was enjoying her new residence in a nearby cluster development of attached homes along North Street and Bryant Avenue. 

In telling me she liked it she related that her house served as the exterior of FBI agent Stan Beeman while the house across the street was the home of Russian spies Philip and Elizabeth Jennings. Interior sets of both homes are filmed in a studio. 

How I Know Winter's Officially Over, The Joy of Spellcheck, Why I Blog

While snow was still falling this morning on eastern Long Island, the City of White Plains officially declared the end of winter. Not by proclamation, mind you, or by adherence to the astronomical calendar which placed the end of winter last Thursday. 

Rather, White Plains put action behind its conviction that no more massive storms will drop snow within our fair city’s borders. A Dept. of Public Works employee came by this morning to remove the red metal pole and flag from atop the fire hydrant in my cul de sac. There’s still an iceberg of slowly melting snow in front of the hydrant, but the city no doubt is confident its trucks will not have to plow any more flakes onto the heap.

Spellcheck Doesn’t Catch Everything: If I have one continuous fault I am willing to own up to, it is my inability to let small writing and speaking mistakes escape my correction. I particularly find “between you and I” to be highly objectionable. Are we not teaching that “between” is a preposition and that the object of a preposition can only be “me,” not “I”?

Not that I am infallible. It is très difficult to edit one’s own copy and speech, though I did have a rule on my magazine that any copy editor who changed even a comma in my manuscripts had to first run it by me for approval, or else. 

I've become a little less pedantic in my dotage, except when it comes to résumés and cover letters I review. But I still occasionally point out an error when I am amused by its presence. Such was the case in an email from Ellie earlier this week suggesting a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she works. 

“I just wondered through this contemporary Chinese art show, which closes April 6, and it was so good … maybe you could see this show … It's great how it's installed among the rest of the collection, rather than in a separate gallery,” she wrote.

To which I replied, in part: “Don’t take this the wrong way, that is me trying to correct you all the time, but I was tickled by a mistake you made in your note that actually makes perfect sense. You wrote, you "wondered" through the art show. You probably meant "wandered," but wondered actually conveys a real sense of discovery and joy.”

Spellcheck doesn’t work when the wrong word is spelled correctly. Sometimes, it’s for the best. BTW, Gilda and I will be going to see the exhibit next week. For those who can, take Ellie’s suggestion and see it, as well.

Preserving the Past: It is difficult to gauge how readers will react to any single post. Monday’s story about my father’s reunion in Perth, Australia, with his first love elicited some heartwarming notes of personal stories from their respective families. 

When I started this blog four and a half years ago one of my objectives was to initiate remembrances among readers through the stories of my family’s history. While I wanted to bring you into the Forseter family sphere, I would have been less than fulfilled if I did not make you reflect on your own, individual heritage.

I am not alone in trying to capture history for the next generation. The NY Times recently ran an article titled, “Preserving Family History, One Memory at a Time,” ( http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/business/preserving-family-history-one-memory-at-a-time.html?ref=business). 

As far back as the mid-1980s my brother, sister and I videotaped our parents and their siblings. Within the last year I transferred the tapes onto DVDs, and with the help of our nephew Eric have made copies for each of our children. For Gilda’s family there’s a DVD of their early life in Saratoga Springs, NY. 

Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorite fiction characters. It would not be too much of a stretch to quote his oft-repeated phrase, “Time is of the essence.” If you’re not already doing something to preserve your patrimony, get cracking. 

Musings on Home, Intelligence and Blame

Home Sweet Home: The man responsible for building our home died Monday at age 81. He didn’t actually hammer the nails into the frame, or do any other type of manual labor. But Martin Berger, along with his partner Robert Weinberg, created our residential neighborhood as a prelude to transforming much of Westchester County and specifically White Plains into a thriving commercial district through projects developed by the Robert Martin Co.

Our little subdivision, known officially as Carriage Hill, was built in 1966. The three streets created within the development bare the names of Berger’s business and family relationships: Romar Avenue after Robert Martin; Teramar Way after his then wife Terry and Martin; our street, Brad Lane, named after his son, Brad.

Back in 1990, while attending a UJA meeting for an upcoming family trip to Israel, I sat in a room with perhaps 40 others. As we went around the room introducing ourselves, the maybe 30-something young man with long, curly, prematurely grey hair sitting next to me said his name was Brad Berger. I couldn’t resist telling him I lived on his street.

According to his father’s obituary, Brad now lives in Beverly Hills, Calif.


Proof Positive: I’m normally a cynic when it comes to the intelligence of the electorate. Here’s a clip from Jay Leno’s Tuesday show that provides more than ample proof I have much to be worried about: http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/citizenship-test-9-13-11/1355026

(In case you have difficulty opening this link, Jay questioned young adults, all citizens, about their knowledge of American history, questions he culled from the test administered to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship. Here are some of the answers provided by three people interviewed by Leno:

Who fought in the Civil War? The U.S. and Britain
Who was president during the Civil War? George Washington
Who assassinated President Lincoln? Lee Harvey Oswald
When was the Declaration of Independence written? 1935
How many Supreme Court justices are there? Two
How many U.S. senators are there? One
How many U.S. senators are there? 52, because there are 52 states
Who is the current chief executive of the country? Greenspan
Name a country that borders the United States? Europe)

How could these people allow themselves to be shown on television exhibiting such utter stupidity? I guess getting 15 seconds of fame was worth more than keeping their veil of dignity and intelligence.

Leno had a response I found acceptable. He ended each person’s interview by suggesting they enter a nearby van so they could be transported across the border where they could learn more about America before being permitted to re-enter.


The Next Phase: We’re moving into the next phase of the election process—the blame game for who’s responsible for the lousy economy. For all you old timers, it’s like the “who lost China” debate of the early 1950s, and the “who lost Vietnam” debate of the 1960s and 1970s.

I think I can safely say both political parties share the blame for the economic distress we find ourselves wallowing in. From Clinton through Obama and their respective congressional partners, the leadership of our country has enabled corporate America and wealthy Americans to escape taxes, or at least their fair share, while ignoring the deterioration of the middle and working classes’ buying power. They’ve allowed more people to slip into poverty. You know the rest, the soaring national debt, etc., so I won’t detail it.

Democrats and Republicans clearly are not able to work together. So here are two tongue-in-cheek solutions to consider:

First, let’s give Republicans a chance to implement their program, on the condition that if GOP ideas to get people back to work don’t produce substantial results by September 2012, say, an unemployment rate of 8% or lower, they will agree to adopt the Democratic plan. If the GOP plan works, no doubt they’d be swept into office in November 2012. But if it doesn’t work they have to accept the Democratic plan for one year regardless of how the election turns out.

My second suggestion is to stop federal spending in states where governors and legislators complain about excessive federal spending. So, in a state like Texas, Gov. Perry could not request any federal disaster relief for the wild fires that are consuming his state. Nor could he ask for FEMA funds if a tornado or hurricane struck. And Perry’s constituents would stop receiving monthly Social Security checks since it’s just a Ponzi scheme, anyway.

Residents of states opting out of federal funding would have to decide if they want to continue to live in those states. That will force them to decide if the federal government really is the bane of their lives, or if they care more for the opportunity to carry a concealed weapon, or if they want their children to learn about Creationism, or some other value that overrides being part of the national budget.

Shopping Right

(Editor's Note: Industry leaders are meeting this week at the National Retail Federation annual convention in New York City, a conference I attended for more than 30 years. Though predominantly a department store and specialty store group of executives, attendees also come from supermarkets, drug stores, home centers and non store retailers such as mail order and Internet companies. For old times' sake, here’s an abridged example of what I used to do for 32 years, an analysis of the entry of a new store, in this case a supermarket, to a market.)

The opening of a new 78,000 sq. ft. ShopRite in downtown White Plains last week provides a textbook example of the dilemma supermarket operators have faced—who, exactly, is their competition? Is it merely other dedicated food stores, or do Wal-Mart and Target qualify as more than just nuisances poaching sales from periphery customers?

Across the country, Wal-Mart and Target superstores (units that combine full-line grocery stores with full-line discount stores) are competition, for sure. But here in White Plains, Wal-Mart and Target have limited food departments. Yet, to ignore them—as both ShopRite and the older Stop & Shop have seemingly done—means the supermarkets are losing sales opportunities they can ill-afford to give away.

Grocery retailing is a business of pennies. The average supermarket, according to the Food Marketing Institute, the industry association, turned a profit of just 1.22 cents for every dollar of sales in 2009. The business model is built on volume, achieved by bringing the customer back as often as possible to fill up shopping carts as high as possible. In 2009, The FMI says the average customer visited a supermarket 2.1 times per week, spending an average $29.24 per transaction.

Over the last 30 years Wal-Mart grew faster and bigger than any other store because it geared its prices and assortments to the type of staple merchandise consumers needed and bought every day—paper goods, health and beauty aids, candy, stationery, and consumables. The result—shoppers visited Wal-Mart as often as they frequented supermarkets. Good news for Wal-Mart. Bad news for supermarkets, because sales of the items grocers lost to Wal-Mart came from products that generally had higher margins than regular foodstuffs.

To attract customers, ShopRite and Stop & Shop have vastly more product lines in packaged food areas than either of the discounters. Plus, they have specialty departments such as deli, bakery, prepared foods and extensive produce, meat, frozen and refrigerated selections. But Wal-Mart and Target are sizing up their everyday food assortments, at sharper prices. A market basket of 21 national brands stocked by all four stores revealed the following: Wal-Mart and Target came in virtually the same, $72.35 for Wal-Mart, $73.13 for Target. Stop & Shop priced out at $87.17, while the new kid on the block, ShopRite, checked out at $89.80 (all prices included in the January 6 survey were regular prices, not sales prices).

A penny here, a penny there doesn’t sound like much, but $14 to $16 is a big difference. A ShopRite executive said the company used its Westchester zone to set prices. But White Plains is different than most other locations. For one, there’s the cost of parking at the City Center (which Target customers also have to pay; Wal-Mart issues parking vouchers at its garage. Stop & Shop parking is free). Second, unlike most ShopRite locations, competitors are cheek to jowl in White Plains—Target is two floors below, Wal-Mart across the street, Stop & Shop a few blocks away.

It is apparent ShopRite set its prices against other supermarkets, giving little thought to non-traditional competitors.

If Wal-Mart or Target siphons off any store visits and purchases from ShopRite it will find it harder to turn a profit. And that would be unfortunate for White Plains residents. Just a few years ago, despite being a mecca of retailing in the county, the city had no supermarkets. Now it has the two traditional grocers, a specialty format (Whole Foods Market), along with Wal-Mart and Target. To maintain those shopping options, ShopRite and Stop & Shop must sharpen their pencils on brand name goods, while fattening their margins on private label products and specialty food departments where Wal-Mart and Target cannot compete.


Regular Price Comparisons January 6, 2011
Product Wal-Mart Target ShopRite Stop & Shop
Jif Creamy PB 18 oz. $2.22 $2.24 $2.99 $2.99
Coca-Cola 2 liter 1.64 1.79 1.79 1.89
Tropicana OJ w/Calcium 59 oz. 3.18 3.19 3.99 3.79
Edy’s Ice Cream 1.5 qt. 3.98 3.54 4.49 4.99
Original Cheerios 18 oz. 3.50 3.54 4.99 4.69
Cambell’s Healthy Request Tomato Soup 1.32 1.27 1.89 1.50
Fiber 1 bars 10-pack 4.50 3.99 5.99 4.99
Thomas’ Orignal English Muffins 6-pack 2.07 2.54 3.69 3.69
Tide 150 oz. 19.97 19.99 23.99 19.99
Goya Black Beans 15.05 oz. 0.92 1.09 0.99 0.89
Ziploc Sandwich Bags, 120 count 2.67 2.69 3.49 3.99
Classic Lays Potato Chips, 11 oz. 3.78 3.59 3.99 3.99
Domino Sugar, 5 lbs. 3.64 3.64 3.99 3.99
Select Harvest Italian Wedding Soup 1.50 1.52 2.50 2.50
Special K, 12 oz. 2.92 2.94 2.77 3 .99
Entemann’s Pound Cake 3.32 3.29 4.29 4.39
Cool Whip, 8 oz. 1.48 0.99 2.29 2.19
Gatorade, 32 oz. 1.00 1.02 1.00 1.25
Lean Cuisine Cheese Ravioli 1.98 1.99 2.00 3.49
Folgers Classic Roast, 11.3 oz. 3.98 5.49 4.29 3.99
Cheez-It, 13.7 oz. 2.78 2.79 4.39 3.99
TOTAL 21 Items 1/6/11 $72.35 $73.13 $89.80 $87.17

Summer of '77

News stories have a way of intertwining events. And, as has been evident to loyal readers of this blog, often my life has a strand woven into the fabric of a story.

George Steinbrenner died last week. His first championship season as owner of the New York Yankees came In 1977. That season coincided with the Summer of Sam, the months David Berkowitz, the self-proclaimed Son of Sam, terrorized New York with random shootings. On the day Steinbrenner died, The NY Times ran a profile of Berkowitz’s life behind bars, his born-again Christian status and the efforts of his “admirers” to make over his image (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/nyregion/13berkowitz.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=david%20berkowitz&st=cse).

Gilda and I returned to New York in mid-1977 after spending four-plus years in Connecticut. Not wanting too long a commute into the city, we looked at communities within a 30-35 minute train ride into Grand Central Terminal, a short walk from my office at Park Avenue and E. 55th St. We visited apartments along the Hudson, along the Sound but finally settled on a two-bedroom unit on Lake Street in White Plains. At the last moment, before signing the lease, I saw an ad for a two-bedroom co-op in Yonkers.

We drove down from New Haven. The building on North Broadway was a magnificent Tudor-style structure. The apartment was beautiful. Oak floors. Window views of the Hudson. Modern kitchen. A garbage shoot to the incinerator off the kitchen. Fireplace in the living room. Priced within our budget. Impulsively, we committed to buy the co-op. We left a deposit. Within a day, buyers’ remorse set in. Did we really want to live in Yonkers? Though the seller wanted to hold us to the contract, a firm letter under my brother’s legal stationery resolved the conflict. We took the Lake Street apartment and have lived in White Plains, happily, ever since.

When they finally caught David Berkowitz in August 1977, turned out he, too, was a commuter. During his 13-month reign of terror, he drove from his Westchester home to New York City to kill six people and wound seven others. Berkowitz commuted from his apartment on Pine Street in Yonkers, around the corner from the co-op Gilda and I almost bought. It still gives Gilda and me chills to think we almost had Son of Sam as a neighbor.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL

To some degree, to a very small degree, I know how Robert Green feels. He’s the goalkeeper of England’s World Cup soccer team who muffed a seemingly easy save, allowing the United States to secure a 1-1 tie in their first round match on Saturday.

I never played goalie, but in college I headed a ball past a keeper. Too bad he was protecting my team’s net. Ouch. Had it been the deciding goal in the intramural game, I would possibly be scarred for life. But my Brooklyn College house plan (like a fraternity but without national affiliation or dormitory privileges) had already given up too many scores to win the game when a high kick came soaring towards our goal. Playing fullback, one of the defensemen, I retreated towards the net, positioning myself where I thought the ball would land. I miscalculated. Instead of hitting my head square, the ball skidded off the back of my crown. Right past our goalie. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

I never really liked soccer. Like most yuppie parents I brought our son Dan to soccer tryouts when he turned 7. Dan really wasn’t too enthusiastic a player back then, even when he “made” our city’s traveling all-star team two years later. Everyone “made” the team. The better players went onto the A team. Dan was placed on the B team. He played fullback, like his dad, only Dan turned out to be the politest of defenders. If a ball rolled between him and an opponent, Dan exhibited his own brand of sportsmanship by not interfering with that player’s forward motion. It was frustrating to watch, especially since schlepping him to practices was quite inconvenient. On a positive note, Dan was no worse a player than most of the others on the team.

Early October 1987 proved to be pivotal in Dan’s athletic development. His team was playing a four-game weekend tournament in Yonkers. It was a pitiful showing, made all the more gloomy by torrential rains (unlike baseball, soccer is played in the rain). His team lost the first game something like 11-3, the second game 10-2, the third game 13-4. As he waited to play the final game, Dan asked me if he could be goalie. I told him to ask the coach, who quickly said, no, he was still trying to evaluate the team’s goalie. Near the end of a 10-0 rout, the coach relented and allowed Dan to play the last five minutes in goal. Now, with no one except himself as the last line of defense, something inside Dan clicked. He attacked the forwards charging at him. He dove in the mud to make saves. The coach took notice. From that mucky, yucky finish, Dan became the team’s starting goalie, a position he didn’t relinquish even after elevation to the A team and through high school varsity.

I loved watching Dan in goal. He was decisive. Athletic. Demanding of himself and his teammates. He played hurt. One tournament he played four games before the coach realized he had fractured his wrist. White Plains won all four of those games.

I didn’t get to see any of Dan’s high school varsity games because of work. So I made a point of getting to the state sectional match against Mamaroneck in Dan’s senior year. I arrived at Mamaroneck’s field during half-time of a 0-0 game, found a seat in the bleachers and waited for the teams to emerge. Dan didn’t come out. Someone else was in goal. Turns out, Dan had injured his leg thwarting a breakaway. My disappointment, as well as Dan’s, was made even more palpable by a 1-0 overtime loss.

To my knowledge, that was the last organized soccer game Dan played. He shifted his athletic allegiance to Ultimate Frisbee, first at college and then at the club level (http://nosocksneededanymore.blogspot.com/2010/02/ultimate-serendipity.html). In a little less than three weeks his Boston-based frisbee team will travel to Prague to compete in the world championships. The tournament won’t get the same international attention the World Cup is generating from South Africa, except, that is, among Ultimate’s fanatical base of players and supporters.

A Bite Out of the Big Apple?

Word is spreading that Wal-Mart is looking for sites in New York City. The usual suspects—unions, social activists, politicians, all looking to score points with their constituencies and small business owners—are lining up to block the world’s largest retailer from planting a toehold in any of the five boroughs.

It’s a classic fight that has transpired across the country, most notably in Chicago where Wal-Mart has one store and is angling to place another within the city limits. It has scores of them ringing the Windy City.

It’s also a classic tale of elitism. Of out and out snobbery. I’ve said it publicly so I might as well put it in print—there is no difference between the operating practices of Wal-Mart and Target, or most other large scale retailers, with the notable exception of Costco. Only size differentiates them, Wal-Mart being several multiples larger than any other retailer. They pay low wages. They limit medical benefits. They employ far greater women and minorities in their stores compared to the percentage of women and minorities in positions of management, both at store and headquarters levels. Their sizes virtually assure that some managers are bigots or poor adherents to corporate policy, so the inevitable discrimination occurs in hiring and promotion. Because it is the largest company, Wal-Mart is the target (pun intended) of legal challenges. Back in the 1970s, when Sears was top dog, it bore the brunt of most discrimination lawsuits. Such is the burden of being number one. (Full disclosure: my wife has a modest holding of Wal-Mart stock.)

Target is among the largest U.S. corporations, with revenues exceeding $65 billion. Yet Target enjoys a warm and fuzzy reputation with shoppers, particularly the power elite. They lovingly, disarmingly call it “Tar-Zhay” and feel comfortable inside its stores. Their snobbery makes their skin crawl when inside a Wal-Mart.

The impact a Target or Wal-Mart has on a market can be equally devastating. Or exhilarating, depending on your point of view. There’s no doubt any small business that offers the same merchandise but at higher prices runs the risk of being closed down. It’s equally true that many retailers thrive in the shadow of one of the big box stores.

In downtown White Plains, NY, Target and Wal-Mart compete across the street from each other. On any given day, Wal-Mart has considerably more traffic, strong evidence that even in upscale Westchester County there is a solid customer base for a store that promises, and often delivers, savings on life’s necessities.

The current brouhaha over Wal-Mart was first reported in Crain’s New York Business earlier this week. Wal-Mart was said to be a possible tenant in the Gateway II project in the Jamaica Bay area of Brooklyn, a mostly working class neighborhood. Here’s Crain’s original reporting, though I can tell you with certainty that it parallels events and comments throughout the country over the last 20 or more years:

“’We don't like how they treat workers as it relates to salaries and benefits, and we're not going to have them in our community,” says City Councilman Charles Barron, D-Brooklyn. “They will have the fight of their lives.”

“United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 is planning a protest in the next week and is already arguing that Related's (the developer) earlier traffic study presented to gain land-use approval did not take into account a Walmart being situated in Gateway II. The union is planning to send canvassers out to the neighborhood to drum up opposition to a potential Walmart.

“’Walmart was never, ever mentioned once through the entire land-use process,” says Pat Purcell, assistant to the president of UFCW Local 1500. “The area cannot sustain a Walmart, a Target and a BJs. In this area, it's a job killer; it's just the wrong use.”’

Twice before Wal-Mart abandoned projects in Queens and Staten Island. I can’t forecast what will happen at Gateway II. But I can predict that unless more large-scale food retailers open more stores in the inner city featuring wide assortments at competitive prices, Wal-Mart will eventually take a big bite out of the Big Apple.