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: September 9, 2004

/s/ Frank G. Vitrano

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