Exhibit 31.2

#### Certification under Section 302 of the  Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Frank G. Vitrano, certify that:



|1. | I
have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of  Pathmark Stores, Inc.;
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|2. | Based
on my knowledge, this report does not contain any  untrue statement of a material fact or
omit to state a material fact necessary  to make the statements made, in light of the
circumstances under which such  statements were made, not misleading with respect to the
period covered by this  report;
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|3. | Based
on my knowledge, the financial statements and other  financial information included in
this report, fairly present in all material  respects the financial condition, results of
operations and cash flows of the  registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
this report;
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|4. | The
registrants other certifying officer and I are  responsible for establishing and
maintaining disclosure controls and procedures  (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant  and have:
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| | a) | designed
such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused  such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to  ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its  consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
by others within those entities,  particularly during the period in which this report is
being prepared;
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| | b) | evaluated
the effectiveness of the registrants  disclosure controls and procedures and
presented in this report our conclusions  about the effectiveness of the disclosure
controls and procedures, as of the end  of the period covered by this report based on
such evaluation; and
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| | c) | disclosed
in this report any change in the registrants  internal control over financial
reporting that occurred during the  registrants most recent fiscal quarter (the
registrants fourth  fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
materially affected, or  is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants
internal  control over financial reporting; and
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|5. | The
registrants other certifying officer and I have  disclosed, based on our most
recent evaluation of internal control over  financial reporting, to the registrants
auditors and the audit committee  of registrants board of directors (or persons
performing the equivalent  function):
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| | a) | all
significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the  design or operation of internal
controls over financial reporting which are  reasonably likely to adversely affect the
registrants ability to record,  process, summarize and report financial
information; and
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| | b) | any
fraud, whether or not material, that involves management  or other employees who have a
significant role in the registrants internal  control over financial reporting.
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Date: December 10, 2003

/s/ Frank G. Vitrano

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