Bensonhurst residents told City Councilmember Susan Zhuang at a town hall meeting on Thursday that they are fed up with the illegal vendors crowding 86th Street and the increase of garbage on the streets.
Representing Bensonhurst, Sunset Park and Dyker Heights, Zhuang, along with several members of the New York Police Department's 62nd Precinct and the Department of Sanitation, came together to survey community concerns about the increase in illegal vending and garbage dumping.
Most of the vending, legal and illegal, is happening on 8th Avenue, between 48th and 61st Streets, where reports have been made of vendors selling food, including raw fish, and using makeshift kerosene tanks to sell cooked meals, officials said.
Some vendors have also sold hammers, swords, clothes and other items, according to the officials.
“We are trying our best to talk to every city agency to resolve this issue,” said Zhuang.
Concetta Bologna, a resident of the neighborhood for 52 years, said she now avoids 86th Street "like the plague."
Bologna said there were too many vendors crowding the sidewalks, and an increase in trash on many of the surrounding streets, making it difficult to shop and walk in her own neighborhood.
“That block has always [had] fruit stands, but we didn't always have all of these vendors," she said. “The streets gotta' have a chance to breathe, this is nonstop.”
Many of the residents expressed concern that their complaints to the Sanitation Department and reports to 311 were not being addressed adequately. And that when there was a response, the respective summons, warnings, and occasional fines weren't enough.
Deputy Inspector Eddie Lau and DSNY Superintendent David Diorio urged residents to keep calling 311. With more data, the complaints will be responded in a faster manner, they said.
Even when unlicensed, Lau stated that if a vendor isn’t selling something illegal, it is a complex process to get them off of the street. However, if the seller is hawking things like weapons and food items, that was easier to confiscate than standard merchandise.
DSNY officials said they had confiscated and composted over 7,000 pounds of food from illegal vendors in the area over the past year.
Dr. Tim Law, who has lived in the neighborhood for 45 years, feels that the vendors, many of whom don't speak English, need stronger guidance.
“We must help them, and advise them,” he said, and urged city officials to use their resources to guide the vendors to agencies that can help them find legal employment, rather than confiscating their merchandise.
“Give them a chance to correct themselves," he said.
Elisa Sciannantena, who lives near 69th Street and 19th Avenue, said the garbage on and near her block is the "worst she's every seen."
"I wish I knew why this is happening," she said, adding that people throw garbage into the tree pits on the sidewalk.
Her grandmother, Rita Maresca, said she sweeps in front of her house everyday, to little avail.
Other issues residents brought up included clogged storm drains and illegal commercial parking.
Zhuang ended the meeting by expressing her dedication to keeping the streets in her district clean, adding that she had allocated $150,000 so that DSNY can increase garbage pick-ups in her district.
In addition, she said she has hired a nonprofit group that will soon begin to clean the sidewalks daily.
"Everyone deserves a safe, clean street," Zhuang said.
