NEW YORK CITY—Online grocer FreshDirect broke ground Monday on its long-awaited new headquarters facility in the South Bronx. The relocation from Long Island City in Queens will keep the company's 3,000 jobs, and tax ratables, in the city, but a $128-million package of state and municipal incentives announced in 2012 to keep FreshDirect from moving to New Jersey drew criticism from politicians, including then-mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio. The mayor did not attend Monday's ceremony, although he has not spoken publicly about the incentives since taking office.

Published reports say that the groundbreaking ceremony, attended by State Sen. Ruben Diaz and his son, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., drew a handful of protesters. Demonstrators from South Bronx Unite turned out to express their concern that delivery trucks entering and leaving the new 500,000-square-foot facility at the Harlem River Yard would exacerbate the neighborhood's existing air-quality issues. The company has promised to begin converting to electric-powered trucks, and the new facility will include charging stations for the fleet.

However, the borough president expressed his support. “This project represents new jobs, and new development, and is a key component of our 'New Bronx' agenda,” Diaz said in a statement. “FreshDirect has cleared every hurdle placed in its way, and today's groundbreaking puts the company on the fast track to their future Bronx relocation. I'm proud to support FreshDirect, and I look forward to continuing to work hand-in-hand with the company and the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp. to put even more Bronx residents to work.”