Some folks have been purveying nonsense about NO 7-Eleven, so I'm going to post a series about what this effort is really all about.
First, it's not just about 7-Eleven. We're trying to get the city to adopt a zoning amendment that would prevent corporate formula storefronts from opening unless the local community board allows it. It would cover anything from Duane Reade to Chase Bank to The Gap -- any store that has 11 other clones in its corporate model.
The intention is not to eliminate all corporate formula stores. The zoning amendment would allow the local community to have a say on how many those stores should be in their neighborhood and where they should be located. After all, formula stores have a place and a useful function. But not everywhere and to the exclusion of everything else.
Other cities have such requirements. And it's been successful. It slows down the commercial rent raises -- chain stores can pay higher rents than mom and pops --and it resists corporate control, corporate growth, corporate management from afar of our labor, streets and neighborhoods.
NO 7-Eleven is not a panacea. It won't prevent gentrification or upscaling of neighborhoods or lower tuition at CUNY or improve your schools or end war. But there are a lot of good reasons to resist corporate control, and if we don't start to resist, corporate spread will not stop here. 7-Eleven is planning 100 more stores in the next two to three years. And that's just 7-Eleven.
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3 comments:
This says it all, Rob! Thanks.
Yay! Right on! Thank you for stating this. This community member totally supports your efforts!
Well stated and accurate. We in this city do not want to be Anywhere, USA - we, for the most part, cherish our individualism and uniqueness - ESPECIALLY long time members of the East Village community. Keep non-descript, unhealthy, soul-robbing, character-less places like 7-11 OUT of OUR neighborhood(s).
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