Monsey community leaders say new Wal Mart is bad influence

Yesterday there was an article in the New York Times about developers wanting to build a Super Wal Mart in Monsey. I have been hearing about this story for some time, and like most communities across the country who despise Wal Mart due to many of its harsh policies and practices, banded together to stop the development of this 215,000 square foot mega store.

The obvious reasons for not wanting a Super Wal Mart or any huge corporate store in your area are many. The obvious number one issue is threat to small business, traffic, pollution and a feeling that Wal Mart does not give back to the community what it takes from it. I personally love and hat Wal Mart at the same time. If I could afford to I would shop at independent stores all the time and stop feeding the big business that owns our politicians. I would love to see the rise of independent book shops, grocery stores, boutiques and neighborhood hardware stores, where everyone knows you by name and cares about the customer. Unfortunately I do not have that luxury, so therefore I have to patronize stores like Trader Joes, Wal Mart and Home Depot, which are slowly ruining the small town structure of rural America one strip mall at a time.

Wal Mart of course, besides coming in to small towns and making main street look like Asbury Park, also gets a lot of flack for its non-union, terrible health plans and moves to fire anyone who does have union organizing tendencies. As a Libertarian I really don’t believe that a company HAS to give health care or let people join a union. But I do believe that the free market eventual controls most harsh practices done by large companies. When companies treat their employees badly etc… grassroots alliances are created to try and boycott, or refuse to allow Wal Marts into their communities.

In Monsey, however, there is a new reason why they CLAIM they do not want Wal Mart here, regardless of the fact that there is a small one already. The community leader’s claims are that they do not want congestion and outside influences entering their community. Both of these claims are semi hypocritical. The road Wal Mart is on is to be avoided anyway(route 59), because it is one of the most congested in Monsey- besides maybe the intersection of Maple ave and 306.

What sort of outside influence does a Wal Mart that sells groceries for rock bottom prices instead of just guns and underwear, bring to the community? I wish they would just tote the party line like every other community and say they are scared of competition, especially due to the fact that kosher grocery stores have a ridiculous mark up. With regards to congestion which is normally a valid idea, no one in the Monsey leadership seems to be telling the contractors to stop building illegal multi family dwellings off of Maple Avenue and 306.

To add some flavor to this article let us look at what outside influences a super Wal Mart will bring and since there is already a regular Wal Mart already- that means that the only added things will be groceries. Since Wal Mart in general does not sell certain magazines due to their soft core pornographic content such as Maxim and FHM one would think that Wal Mart ranks high on their list compared to the regular old Shop Rite and Pathmark which continues to sell such drek.

Wal Mart Super center in Monsey may bring the following outside influences:t

Hey Moishe I have always wanted to taste non-triple washed lettuce, and now we have it at our fingertips.

Vut is dis Tofu, they claim it’s like mun, apikorsos.

Dese Ben and Jerry are Jewish, vy no cholov yisreol.

Tatty can we just try non-pas yisroel bread.

They sell real non-frozen strawberries.

G-d forbid should someone buy real broccoli, the washing is liable to make any baleboostah crack.

Hey look the ketchup bottle says Heinz but it is the same as (insert heimishe brand here that puts their labels over the regular ketchup bottles to make it extra kosher)

Wow these prices are half of what Wesley Kosher charges; we will never go back again.

An added secular music section, hey wait they already have one.

Microwavable meals that do not cost $6 a piece and taste better then rubber.

Open on shabbos may cause people to sin.

Enough room in the aisles for people to move about without by accidentally touching the opposite sex with their oversized …. Shopping carts you sicko.

I hear there are plans for a kosher subway in the entrance of the new Wal Mart and that is way too much secular influence for this town. Although Kosher Castle distinctly sounds like White Castle, but they don’t have sliders.

On a side note, all the grocery stores in Monsey I have found to be a rip off and make frequent trips to Trader Joes in NJ.