Trader Joes, Chipotle, or Wawa (?)

A lot of people have been commenting on our Facebook page in answer to a question we posed yesterday:

Make a wish! What is one business that doesn’t exist in New City, that you wish did?

While there were a few voices hoping for a local, small business, most folks offered up a chain they’d like to see in town.

Far ahead of any other suggestion: Trader Joes. The small, specialty grocery store was named by nine people so far, compared to three for Whole Foods.

Whole Foods didn’t do so bad, though—the only other idea from three people was Chipotle.

We received far more suggestions for food than for anything else. Among the suggestions: a nice sit-down restaurant (two specified Chinese), an ice-cream parlor, an independent coffee shop.

Cindy Alejandro wants a Cracker Barrel—maybe to sit in one of those rocking chairs and watch the traffic go by on 304?

Beth Levy Sudol would like to see a decent kid-friendly drive-thru that isn’t McDonalds or BK.

Hooters also got two votes—Joe Greenwald wants ”the car and bike nights that go with.”

In the non-food category there were some surprising suggestions.

A hint of nostalgia came from Nicholas Sainz who wants a record store. Was it a hint of homesickness that made Adrian Abaquin suggest a Wawa (a convenience store chain in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Central Florida)?

Other chains recommended by readers include Buy Buy Baby, Dicks and the Sports Authority.

A couple of people suggested Target. What, Nanuet isn’t close enough for you?

Seriously, Sandy Robbins had a revitalization goal in mind. She wrote, “Target, Bradlees, Kohls-- anything that might fill up the stores near Stop and Shop.”

And Ira Samuels was thinking along the same lines. “Why is the new Stop N Shop center empty,” he wrote. “All of these ideas are great if this center’s owner would try and bring them here to New City.”