Sheltered from the cold in the vestibule of Tribakery, around the corner from the store, Assistant Attorney General Terri Gerstein handed the first checks to current and former workers just in time for Christmas.

"I feel very good," said Isaias Flores, who works at the deli counter, after receiving his check. "We work hard. This is our money."

Yi acknowledged the violations but said he had not known the law. When he and his family arrived in the United States from South Korea, they worked long hours six days a week for low wages, he said: "I thought it was like that."

He said he was glad the issue was settled and that he enjoys a good relationship with his employees, some of whom have worked at his store for many years.

"I’m happy with them and I think they’re happy here," he said. "It’s time to move on. I have to look to the future."

Yi closed the store in April after a boycott, organized by Local 169 of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) and a community labor group, cut business more than 60 percent. The boycott was part of a citywide effort to organize greengrocery workers, most of whom are Mexican immigrants.

The store, now called Jin Market, reopened in July, with most of its workers returning to their jobs.

"At first I had a lot of faith that something good would come of it," said Alfredo Mellado, another deli worker involved in the settlement. "Then a long time passed and I had my doubts."

"I thought all was lost when the store closed," said Luis Reyes, who along with Demetrio Morales took a job at the IPN Deli on Greenwich Street. Both received checks last month, and Morales said he would spend the money on his wife and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

"It’s an important victory for the workers involved," said Jeff Eichler, organizing director for Local 169. "And it sends a message to greengrocery owners that they’re still under scrutiny."

The Attorney General began its investigation of Hudson Market around the time the boycott began, and met with the workers over subsequent months.

"It’s not just about the workers who receive checks," Gerstein said. "There are probably hundreds of workers, or more, in stores we’re not investigating, who are making more money, working fewer hours, and spending more time with their families because of our campaign in the industry."

Under last month’s agreement, the seventh between the Attorney General’s office and store owners, Yi is required to submit payroll records to the Attorney General for the next two years.