A New Rochelle neighborhood’s only grocery store reopened Monday after days of protests following a nearby fatal police shooting of a Black man on July 3.
Around 8 a.m., New Rochelle Farms opened its doors for the first time in days since the aftermath of New Rochelle police Det. Steven Conn shooting Jarrell Garris, 37, two weeks ago, after the store accused him of eating fruit and leaving. Garris died on July 10, a week after the shooting.
The store, located at the corner of Lincoln and North avenues, opened with security and one entrance inside. A police spokesperson confirmed two officers were there Monday morning.
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In a statement, Jose Filipe, the owner of New Rochelle Farms, offered condolences to Garris’ friends and family.
“The whole community has been affected by this regrettable tragedy,” he said. “Last week, out of respect for the Garris family, and to make room for neighbors to grieve, our store was closed.”
On Monday, Garris’ family, through their attorney William Wagstaff III, said they had not met with Filipe, but they pray that “all protests or calls to action in response to the store’s reopening — should there be any — are peaceful.”
The store, owned by a Latino, had been celebrated by city officials as part of a larger effort to invest in a historically African American neighborhood known as the Lincoln Avenue corridor, as The Journal News/lohud reported. Decades ago, Black-owned businesses lined the street before urban renewal projects cut off the neighborhood from the city.
The city of New Rochelle declined to comment for this story.
Alleged stolen food led to shooting
In bodycam footage released by the New Rochelle Police Department, two women officers follow Garris down the street and ask him about eating food in the store. One officer can be heard asking the other if the store owner, Filipe, wants to press charges. As Garris crosses Lincoln Avenue, the officers say the owner does — an account that a New Rochelle Police spokesperson later confirmed.
Conn then approaches Garris, telling him he is under arrest.
In the video, Garris resists arrest as the officers get in a scuffle with him in the middle of the street.
A July 3 police press release said Garris reached for another officer’s gun, though it’s unclear from the bodycam footage released by police. Conn fatally shot Garris in the neck. Garris died a week later.
Through a spokesperson, Filipe declined an interview request, as well as a follow-up question about pressing charges.
Protests, community demands of store in wake of shooting
New Rochelle Farms had been closed since a July 7 press conference held by members of Garris’ family in front of St. Catherine A.M.E. Zion Church, just feet from where Conn shot Garris.
After the family’s speeches, some people marched down the street to New Rochelle Farms and blocked the intersection. A few entered New Rochelle Farms, where they toppled produce.
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For days, residents protested in front of the store, often sitting in lawn chairs directly in front of the front doors and distributing food and water to people on hot July days.
In recent days, protests shifted to City Hall and the police station, which are just a couple buildings down from the grocery store. There was speculation about whether Filipe would meet with the family before reopening.
The Rev. Jamel Hollis, who has organized protests often on Facebook Live, said community demands hadn’t been met before the store reopened. This included local hiring of the store’s security and staff, particularly of Black New Rochellians, and for community organizers to meet with management.
“The people that live in this community are mad as hell,” Hollis said in a phone interview from outside the store Monday. “It is an unfortunate thing that this store owner has not yielded to any of the asks that the community has put on a list. It is unfortunate that he has opened the store, and the store looks exactly the same as when it closed with zero changes.”
Filipe, who is of Dominican and Portuguese heritage, lives nearby in Mount Vernon. A spokesperson for Filipe didn’t respond to the demands outlined.
Store part of an effort to reconnect New Rochelle area
New Rochelle Farms opened in January 2020, just before emergency stay-at-home declarations at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which put sections of New Rochelle in a containment zone. It also launched just before one of the only nearby walkable grocery stores closed, threatening to create a food desert in the historically Black neighborhood.
“We are no strangers to the food insecurities that our community faces and recognize that sometimes our neighbors need a helping hand,” Filipe said in his statement. “New Rochelle Farms has become part of the fabric of this community, and we have never turned down anyone who has asked for food when they were hungry.”
In past decades, Black-owned businesses, including a grocery store, lined the Lincoln Avenue corridor. Urban renewal projects, including the construction of Interstate 95 and Memorial Highway, cut off much of the neighborhood from the rest of the city. It led to downturns in commerce that are still visible today with empty storefronts.
The city has undertaken investment projects, such as “The Linc,” to connect the Lincoln Avenue area to downtown New Rochelle, which has glimmering skyscrapers, with more being built. The city got a $10 million grant in 2018 from the state of New York. Mayor Noam Bramson and Council Member Yadira Ramos-Herbert, who recently won the Democratic primary for mayor, touted the grocery store as part of an effort to better connect the area — even posing for a ribbon-cutting when New Rochelle Farms first opened.
“It is time for New Rochelle Farms to re-open,” Filipe said. “We pledge to work with our neighbors to build a bridge to open dialogue and understanding to create a safer and more compassionate community for everyone.”
Eduardo Cuevas covers race and justice for the USA TODAY Network of New York. He can be reached at EMCuevas1@gannett.com and followed on Twitter @eduardomcuevas.