Work Gets Underway at Trader Joe's

Following months of anticipation regarding Trader Joe's taking root in the old Independence Bank Building at the corner of Court and Atlantic in Brooklyn, and rumors that the deal had been scotched, work finally got underway inside the cavernous old stone barn.

Oh, sure, plenty of work was done last fall. The inside was gutted of everything that ever indicated it used to function as a bank. But then the interior became a ghost town for months on end. A spokesman at Trader Joe's told Lost City a couple months back that work would begin in spring. But then more weeks passed, and hope began to face.

Walking by the space in Friday, however, the doors were wide open for the first time in ages. Some sort of powerful truck was parked outside with power cable leading inside the building. New equipment was in evidence and workers were walking about. Yes, indeed! There was life in the old place. Trader Joe's may be on its way after all.