**Community Meeting Addresses Street Vendor and Illegal Dumping Issues**
Brooklyn City Council Member Zhuang Wenyi held a community meeting at Bensonhurst on the afternoon of the 27th to discuss the ongoing problems of cleaning up 86th Street and Bay Parkway, as well as addressing the issue of illegal street vendors. The purpose of the meeting was to gather feedback from the community and develop clear solutions to tackle these issues.
Several local residents, mostly Westerners, expressed concern about the excessive number of street vendors on 86th Street, to the extent that they are “blocking the sidewalks”. Merely issuing fines and collecting penalties from these vendors does not fundamentally solve the problem, leading to a worsening situation.
Residents pointed out that littering and illegal dumping have exacerbated the rodent problem in the area. They lamented, “It seems like everyone is doing whatever they want, with no respect for the streets. People claim to be doing business, yet they can ignore the rules, which is truly incomprehensible.”
One Western resident mentioned that her neighborhood has become one of the worst areas she has seen, with photo evidence to support her claims. She expressed sadness, saying, “For three or four years in a row, this place has become increasingly unsafe. I am devastated and feel like crying. What has happened here? I can’t even take a walk in my own community anymore. It’s too dirty.”
It was reported that some have even “rented out” the streets outside their shops to illegal vendors. Chinese residents also complained about garbage scattered on the streets, eventually leading to clogged sewers, which requires sustained pressure to see improvements.
Captain Liu Zhiqiang of the 62nd Precinct mentioned that despite the Health Department spearheading enforcement against street vendors, the police would also assist in the efforts. Recently, they made an arrest of a vendor on 86th Street and Bay Parkway, confiscating their items as the vendor was caught illicitly selling marijuana.
Officials from the Health Department acknowledged the various challenges facing the area and mentioned their commitment to allocating significant resources to address them. This includes increasing the frequency of garbage collection services and seeking more effective strategies to combat the problems.
Zhuang Wenyi acknowledged that her office communicates daily with the Sanitation Department and receives numerous calls regarding public safety. As a member of the Clean Committee, she has been actively addressing these issues and will continue to do so. She noted the significant difficulty in resolving these problems, citing a commercial bank’s preference to pay fines rather than hire people to clean the streets due to lower costs.
However, she believes change is on the horizon. In May of this year, the New York City Council passed several bills intended to improve quality of life, including Bill No. 97 proposed by Council Member Huang Minyi, which seeks to increase fines for repeated offenders of commercial trash littering on sidewalks. The fines escalate with each offense, starting at $50 for the first violation within 12 months, rising to $300 for the second offense, and $500 for subsequent violations.
Some analysts view this law as utilizing increased fines as an “incentive” to compel businesses to proactively remove illegal vendors from their premises, as streets without vendors tend to be cleaner.
Zhuang Wenyi emphasized that the aim of Bill No. 97 is to compel businesses to genuinely clean the streets and that it is pending the mayor’s final signature to take effect. She is also considering hiring cleaning organizations to sweep the streets, depending on whether the budget allocation is approved.