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Walmart May Sneakily Open First Local Outpost Right On The Border Of Queens
By
Max Rivlin-Nadler
Published Mar 14, 2014
Modified Mar 14, 2014
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Frontpage / Shutterstock.com
By
Max Rivlin-Nadler
Published Mar 14, 2014
Modified Mar 14, 2014
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Taking advantage of the fact that no one is quite sure where Queens ends (scientists are still looking into it), Walmart has shrewdly bought a parcel of land in a shopping center that straddles the border of Queens and Long Island.
Crains reports that in August of 2012, Walmart leased 40,000 square feet of retail space at the Five Towns Retail Center, which lies on the nebulous border between Queens and Long Island (and in an area that was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy). Walmart has yet to begin work on a store there (once again, the aforementioned catastrophe), but it's the closest Walmart has gotten to a city that has fiercely opposed any effort by Walmart to open a store within its boundaries.
A spokesman for the store insists that the store falls on the Long Island side of Rockaway Boulevard. If Walmart were to move on the space and actually open a store, Queens Councilman Donovan Richards says that he'd "definitely make a big deal about it." YOUR MOVE, WALMART. The director of the Walmart Free NYC Coalition, told Crains that "it is not surprising that they would try to find a gray area between the two, given the fight they’ve had to get into New York City."
That gray area of Queens and Long Island exists because of a strange quirk in observed reality. The thing is, the more you explore the border of Queens and Long Island, the larger you find Queens actually is. In fact, like the famous double-slit experiment in quantum physics, by observing Queens, one actually makes it larger. Or, to put it in a way that Queens residents will be familiar with, it's like how the more you listen to Midnight Marauders the more tracks Busta Rhymes appears on, until, after enough plays, you're actually just listening to a Busta Rhymes album. And you're somehow still in Queens!
Update: A few minutes after posting the article, Walmart told Crains that the company "has changed its mind."
Tagged
long island
queens
retail
unions
walmart
Max Rivlin-Nadler
Max Rivlin-Nadler has been a contributor to Gothamist since 2013. He has also reported for the New York Times, NPR, and The Intercept. His years-long investigation into New York City's arcane civil forfeiture laws led to a series of reforms which altered a practice that had been taking millions from poor communities for decades. Recently, he brought back a surfing habit from a few years on the west coast, and would love to see you all out in the Rockaways.
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