Whither Walmart?

The polls  — both scientific and avowedly "unscientific" — seem to be everywhere.

No, we're not talking about the opening salvos of the 2012 Republican presidential primary, set to take off in earnest a little more than a year from today during the Iowa caucuses.

We're talking Walmart.

More specifically, we're talking about whether a majority of city residents favor the low-cost retailer's in a decade to open a store within the five boroughs.

And this time around, even some union advocates admit that polls showing a plurality of New Yorkers in support of Walmart opening a city location are "probably accurate."

"I think the recession has tipped the scales," said Jerry Iannece, chairman of Community Board 11. "I would assume that popular opinion is that they do want it."

Posted on a  Web site geared specifically toward city residents, Walmart's own polling data backs up Iannece's hunch about momentum behind the retailer's city bid.

According to the survey, 71 percent of respondents said they supported Walmart opening a store in the city, with 24 percent opposed and 5 percent "unsure."

When broken down by borough, 70 percent of Queens residents were in favor of a city location, according to the poll, which the retailer claimed consisted of a random sample of 1,000 residents surveyed between Dec. 2 and Dec. 7.

The site also touts the "affordable groceries, job opportunities and tax revenues" Walmart says it will bring upon its entrance to the city's retail market.

With a twice-postponed hearing on the issue set for early next month, Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) seemed resigned to the prospect of an outpost of the big-box retailer opening in New York City in the near future.

"This is a democracy," Weprin said. "It is their right to open store here."

The retailer is rumored to be considering a location in Brooklyn's East New York neighborhood. In the past, Walmart has considered the former Caldor's in Flushing and another location in Rego Park.

Meanwhile, city Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio seemed committed to keeping Walmart out of New York City, citing the negative effects of similar stores opened in urban centers.

According to DeBlasio's petition, "Support Small Businesses: Keep Walmart Out Of NYC," 82 of 306 smaller area stores closed within a year of the retail giant's recent opening in Chicago's Austin neighborhood.

"Family owned local businesses are forced to shut their doors — and the living-wage jobs they provide vanish along with them," the petition reads.

Weprin shared many of the same fears, saying there was little the cash-strapped city could do to soften the blow for smaller shops hit with a loss of business from a future NYC Walmart location.

"My concern is that Walmart will undercut the specialty stores that give our neighborhood their character," Weprin said. "It will turn us into another small town."