more grocery stores in NYC

In late September, the New York City Planning Commission approved an incentive program to encourage more grocery stores to open their doors in underserved parts of NYC. The incentives include: allowing residential buildings to be 20,000 square feet larger than permitted now if they include a grocery store, forgoing the requirement that smaller grocery stores provide parking for their customers, and providing grocery stores in the targeted areas with "tax abatements". In order to be eligible, stores must devote a least one half of their square footage to food, and a certain percentage on top of that to perishables such as fresh produce, meat, and dairy. These areas targeted by this program include: northern Manhattan, central Brooklyn, south Bronx, and downtown Jamaica in Queens. (I kind of see why Staten Island people get so bitter sometimes...)