Note - this pic is from another local bodega

Not sure what bodega folks frequent, but as some may have noticed, the bodega on the southeast corner Sterling Place and Nostrand Avenue has recently undergone a complete overhaul.  When I asked the owner about what motivated the change, he responded quite frankly “Because the neighborhood changed.  Used to be hustlers and drug dealers.  But now is different.  When the neighborhood changes, we change.”

Then, as if on cue – two white patrons stepped into the establishment.

Of course the neighborhood was not all “hustlers and drug dealers”.   I’d hazard that the overwhelming majority of the neighborhood has always been hard-working law-abiding citizens.  But, if my fellow hard-working law-abiding neighbors are anything like me and my household, they avoided patronizing that bodega because it looked so darn crummy.  It was dingy, dirty and always reeked of cigarette smoke.

While I’m certainly happy about the upgrade, it’s frustrating that the owner didn’t realize sooner that the residents of this neighborhood deserved better.

NP Update 3/4/10 5:23 p.m.: Our co-blogger, Abeni G., had good idea about how to get more bodegas to change up their shops -  “I feel if we had a modern day boycott of bodegas that have shoddy service, shoddy goods, a general unclean and unkempt appearance and take our traffic to the bodegas that are actually good, it will have an impact!  Especially if we blog to inform others what bodegas to avoid and what bodegas offer better quality goods and service.”  Thoughts?

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