Fairway Expected to Open at Summer's End, Owner Says

Fairway Market's owner said construction could begin next month on a long-awaited chain store at Douglaston Shopping Plaza and that the market could debut by the end of the summer.

Community Board 11 held a public hearing last night on an application for a variance that would allow the market to place as many as eight signs bearing the market's name that are larger than zoning at the site currently allows.

The board voted unanimously for the variance. Four of the market's signs will be freestanding, while another four will be on its building.

"We want to get the store open as quickly as possible," said Daniel Glickberg, whose grandfather founded Fairway in Manhattan more than 70 years ago. "It does not pay to delay. We will make the store absolutely perfect for you. We will be the best food store in the area."

The signs will be placed on the store's front façade as well as on either side of its handicapped-accessible elevator. Its freestanding signs will not be illuminated.

The market, which is located at 242-02 61st Ave. in Douglaston, must now get final approval for the signs from the city's Board of Standards and Appeals as well as a permit from the Department of Buildings.

Glickberg said he hopes Fairway would be able to obtain a Buildings permit by the end of the month, allowing the market to begin constructing in Douglaston in February. He believes the market could be built in six to eight months.

Fairway will replace Waldbaum's at the shopping plaza after that grocery store's lease expired last year.

The market took possession of the property in August, at which time electrical work at the store was also completed. But the process of obtaining permits from the BSA has prevented the high-end market from opening last spring as originally planned.

Jeffrey Chester, an attorney for Fairway, said the BSA's original resolution for the market did not allow enough space for signage.

"It was completely inadequate," he said. "We need to alert customers to where we are."

Glickberg said Fairway was also planning to expand the store's space. Once it opens, the market will operate every day from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The market, which is based in Manhattan's Upper West Side, was founded by Nathan Glickberg as a fruit and vegetable stand at the corner of Broadway and West 74th Street in 1940.

Each store includes its own baker as well as kosher and non-kosher butchers. The stores also have a large selection of cheese, coffee, organic food and grocery items.

The chain now operates markets in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island, Westchester County, Connecticut and New Jersey.

The Douglaston site would be its first in Queens.