Residents of Spuyten Duyvil will soon regain access to a neighborhood supermarket and pharmacy after months of advocacy efforts to bring essential services back to the Knolls Crescent shopping center.

Construction is underway to convert the former Rite Aid location into a Fine Fare supermarket after the space was secured through a 20-year lease. The grocery store is expected to open in September.

The owner of Ben's Market purchased the former Rite Aid space and plans to relocate grocery operations there. The current Ben's Market location will then be transformed into a pharmacy, with plans to open next year.

Community advocates Karen Kawaguchi and Stephanie Coggins helped lead efforts to ensure the retail space continued serving neighborhood needs after Rite Aid closed nearly a year ago.

Residents say the return of a pharmacy is especially important for the area's large senior population, many of whom have struggled to access prescription services since the closure.

"The pharmacist, which we are thrilled to learn is Ali Al-Bashir, who was the pharmacist over at Rite Aid, is coming back," Kawaguchi said. "People in the community know him. They love him. They respect him."

While residents are welcoming the return of essential services, they say the shopping center still faces challenges. Five of the center's 16 storefronts remain vacant.

Coggins said the center has lost some of the activity it once had when more businesses were operating.

"The Knolls Crescent Shopping Center has been feeling a little bit abandoned," Coggins said. "I used to come just about every single day, and now I come maybe a couple times a week just because I need to pick things up."

Kawaguchi and Coggins are now surveying residents about what types of businesses they would like to see fill the remaining vacant storefronts. Among the most requested additions is a coffee shop, which residents say would provide a gathering place for neighbors.

The advocates have also begun reaching out to business owners in other commercial districts, hoping to attract new tenants and revitalize the shopping center.