An uncertain future

This Waldbaum’s, at 1530 Front St., has been vacant for nearly two months. County leaders said they would like to see another grocery store open at the site.

Christina Daly/Herald

Signs around the store in November warned community members that Waldbaum’s would be closing.

Julie Mansmann/Herald

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Since East Meadow’s Waldbaum’s closed in November, the building that housed the Front Street business has been vacant — and it might remain that way for a while.

The chain’s owner, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, filed for bankruptcy last July. Last fall, all 51 of the company’s grocery stores on Long Island closed, including the Waldbaum’s at 1530 Front St.

Unlike dozens of other properties, however, the East Meadow store was not bought by another supermarket chain. On Jan. 6, a federal bankruptcy court judge ordered A&P to turn over nearly a dozen leases for vacant Long Island Waldbaum’s and Pathmarks that have not been sold to their original landlords. The ruling will allow the East Meadow landlord, NW-East Meadow Grocery LLC, to lease the space to new tenants who might not be grocers.

By way of its attorney, the company declined to comment on the situation.

Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams, who represents the area of East Meadow west of Merrick Avenue, said he had been trying to contact NW-East Meadow Grocery about the future of the property, which is within his district. He and residents said they had many concerns about how the vacancy would negatively impact the community.

Abrahams hosted a meeting in December to discuss what he and county leaders have done to try to help bring a new business to the area. Among the attendees was Todd Weinstein, who lives just over a mile from the store.

Weinstein said that the property is currently vulnerable to squatters and vandalism. He and his mother-in-law, Alice Fischer, also noted that many elderly people who live in senior living communities within walking distance of the former Waldbaum’s are now unable to shop on their own.

Fischer has lived in the Meadows, a “Golden Age” community, for four and a half years. Although she still has a car and can drive to other grocery stores, she said that many of her older neighbors cannot.

“In the past, you didn’t have to rely on your children to go out,” she explained. “… [N]ow it’s a 5 to 10-minute ride to any other store. It’s a big inconvenience.”