John Catsimatidis, chairman of Red Apple Group, has opened a Red Apple Supermarket at 218 Myrtle Ave., one of the first new full-service grocery stores to open in the neighborhood for many years. Assisting at the ribbon cutting were borough president Marty Markowitz, district council member Letitia James, state senator Velmanette Montgomery, assembly member Hakeem Jeffries, Lincoln Restler, member of Community Board 2's Economic Development and Job Creation Committee, and Ed Brown, president of the Ingersoll Houses Tenants Association. "When the neighborhood lost a grocery store and a drug store as a result of urban renewal actions we were called upon to replace them," Catsimatidis said. "Today, I am happy to say that promise has been kept." The name, Red Apple Supermarket, recalls the name of the first store Catsimatidis opened when he went into the grocery business in 1971. Red Apple Group also owns Gristedes. The opening of Red Apple Supermarket also marks the conclusion of the first phase of Catsimatidis' redevelopment of the south side of Myrtle between Ashland Place and Prince St.