You are reading

Bartlett Dairy Returns Home to Queens, Bringing Back Hundreds of Jobs

City, state, and community officials celebrate groundbreaking for Bartlett Dairy Inc.’s new headquarters and distribution facility (Photo: NYCEDC)

Aug. 17, 2021 By Ryan Songalia

A dairy company that hails from Queens is returning to the World’s Borough from New Jersey.

Bartlett Dairy, a minority-owned family business that was established in Queens in 1963, broke ground Thursday on a 54,000 square foot headquarters and food distribution center. The facility is going up at the JFK North Site, between the Nassau Expressway and Rockaway Boulevard.

Approximately 165 jobs with wages averaging $70,000 per year will be brought back to the borough from New Jersey, where the company has been running its distribution operations in recent years. The project will also create approximately 100 construction union jobs.

Bartlett had at one time run its New York distribution operations out of Elmhurst Dairy in Jamaica, until it was closed in 2016 by the plant’s owner, Henry Schwartz, citing a lack of profitability. That closure put 273 people out of work, according to the New York Times.

“We are excited to be returning home to Jamaica,” said Thomas Malave Jr., President of Barlett Dairy at the groundbreaking. “When my father started this company more than fifty years ago, Bartlett Dairy was a small one man, one truck operation.”

“Over the years, my brothers and I have worked tirelessly to build upon the opportunity our father provided. It has been astonishing to see the growth that we have been able to achieve.”

The groundbreaking, according to Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, is a strong indicator that the borough is making a rapid economic comeback.

“Queens is not just leading the way out of the pandemic. It’s leading the way toward a future where good-paying jobs right here in the borough sustain entire communities,” Richards said. “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome back upwards of 165 good-paying jobs to Queens.”

Aerial view of new Bartlett Dairy, Inc. headquarters. Courtesy of Tonab Architecture PLLC.

Bartlett Dairy was established by Thomas Malave Sr. who delivered bottles of milk to homes seven days a week as a one man operation.

Thomas Malave, Sr. (Photo: BartlettNY.com)

Malave later partnered with his five sons to expand the business to include deliveries to stores and restaurants. Bartlett Dairy was incorporated in 1990, and the company now delivers dry and perishable goods to schools, hotels, grocery stores, supermarkets, hospitals and restaurants across the tri-state area.

“Today’s groundbreaking is a true testament to New York City’s continued economic recovery,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Rachel Loeb. “Bartlett’s new headquarters and dairy and food distribution center will bring quality jobs to New Yorkers, while strengthening the City’s food economy. We are proud to have worked with Bartlett Dairy and Queens Borough President Richards to make this happen.

Rendering of new headquarters and distribution center for Bartlett Dairy, Incorporated. Courtesy of Tonab Architecture PLLC.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

One Comment

Click for Comments 

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Ridgewood mother and daughter arrested for attacking woman over parking spot: NYPD

A Ridgewood mother and daughter were arrested Monday after they ambushed a young Black woman who tried to park her car in a spot in front of their apartment building that they frequently cordon off with garbage cans and traffic cones.

A family friend was standing at the northeast corner of Onderdonk Avenue and Putnam Avenue at around 7:30 p.m. when the 21-year-old Jada McPherson tried to park her car in the spot. The man placed a garbage can in her way. She drove off and circled the block multiple times. She tried to pull into the same spot one more time, but the man tried to stop her again. McPherson got out of her car to confront him, and an argument ensued.

Man in his 50s sought for exposing himself to 13-year-old on E train in Forest Hills: NYPD

Police from the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills and Transit District 20 are looking for a suspect who allegedly flashed a 13-year-old girl on a Queens subway train last month.

The victim was riding a southbound E train approaching the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station at around 1 p.m. on Monday, June 30, when she saw a stranger exposing himself to her, police said Wednesday. The perpetrator ran off the train at the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station and fled in an unknown direction. The youngster was not injured during her encounter with the stranger.