The owner can pick and choose several different directions to go, he says. Other retailers bidding on the site, however, say they have been told by the developer that Costco has the inside edge. Meanwhile, Costco officials have begun contacting elected officials, offering to brief them on their plans for a midtown store. Opponents of big-box stores including community activists, neighborhood merchants and labor unions, are starting to mobilize against Costco. Most Costco stores use nonunion employees, though company officials say they pay above union scale.
Traffic worries Traffic is the major concern.
When you think of a superstore, you think of 48 rolls of toilet paper, says Ms. Quinn. That s not the kind of thing people will schlep on the subway. They would use a car, so you would have more traffic on 14th Street, an area that is already incredibly congested. Opponents options are limited, however,because the 14th Street location requires no zoning permits. One idea under discussion is to ask the City Council to block the Washburn Wire project,which does need council approval, to force Costco to abandon the armory site.