Vanquishing a Food Desert

Nice story of neighborhood activists beating back The Donald to get a much-needed supermarket.

For long-time Germantown resident and Northwest activist Irv Ackelsberg, the Brown's ShopRite will serve as a reminder of the neighborhood's triumph over Donald Trump.

Several years ago, the famed business mogul had his sights set on part of the Tastykake site for a $300 million-plus casino. But residents from Nicetown-Tioga, Allegheny West, East Falls and Germantown banded together under the banner of the Multi-Community Alliance to make sure that project never got off the ground.

"About six years ago, people from the surrounding communities joined together to say 'we don't want no casino we want a supermarket'," said Ackelsberg. "So we owe a lot of appreciation to Brown Shop-Rite, but we also owe a little appreciation to ourselves for having hung in there and done the right thing."