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 fiscal quarter 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 7, 2004

/s/ Frank G. Vitrano

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