By Alexander Dworkowitz
City officials raided a downtown Flushing market last Thursday, confiscating 15,000 pounds of watermelons that had been placed in boxes on a bustling sidewalk filled with pedestrians.
Big Brother Seafood Market, known as B.B.S. at its 40-33 Main St. location, was cited for violating sidewalk space by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Health, said Consumer Affairs spokeswoman Pauline Toole.
“It sounds silly to say the watermelons are dangerous,” Toole said. “It sounds like something preposterous. But the reality is that people walk out of the way onto the street sometimes. It’s a hazard.”
The raid at the market proved so fruitful that the watermelons, along with some mangoes and bananas, completely filled a truck. The city agencies had planned to raid two other Flushing businesses for similar violations, but had no more room to store any seized food, Toole said.
The city gave the confiscated fruits to City Harvest, a non-profit charity, which donated them to summer camps and senior centers in the boroughs.
B.B.S.’s violations stemmed from the placement of the watermelon crates on the sidewalk, Poole said.
City rules allow businesses to apply for a permit to have fruit stands extend several feet out from the edge of the store. In most of downtown Flushing, the stands can stick out up to four feet from the storefront. On wider sidewalks the stands can extend five feet, but on tighter sidewalks the stands can extend only three feet.
While B.B.S. stands selling other fruits and vegetables were within city regulations, the watermelon boxes were placed along the curb of 41st Avenue, Poole said.
Several days before the raid, the TimesLedger found boxes of watermelons lined up along 41st Avenue on the sidewalk outside B.B.S.
Earlier this week smaller, empty boxes were on the street, but the one container of watermelons was shoved against the wall of B.B.S.
The manager of B.B.S. could not be reached for comment.
The raid on B.B.S. is part of a what officials call a perennial problem for downtown Flushing.
From June 2001 to March 2002, 16 businesses in downtown Flushing, including B.B.S., were cited for sidewalk violations, according to a recent DCA report.
Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) has put a focus on targeting downtown Flushing businesses which illegally take up sidewalk space coveted by the tens of thousands of people who walk through the neighborhood everyday.
On June 28, Liu and city officials passed out leaflets in English, Chinese and Korean explaining regulations on sidewalk usage.
During the following weeks, officials returned to the area to see if businesses were in compliance with the laws.
Those found not in compliance were then targeted for raids, Liu said.
“Now that the rules are widely disseminated, they have to follow them,” Liu said.
Liu noted that most of the businesses in downtown Flushing are not guilty of violations.
But he called B.B.S. one of the “bad apples.”
“This is the most egregious, the most blatant violator of the sidewalk rules,” he said.
Depending on the outcome in court, B.B.S. could be fined up to $2,500, Poole said.
Both DCA and Liu are pursing legislation in the City Council to increase fines against sidewalk violations.
Poole said similar raids would occur in downtown Flushing in the near future.
“Our goal isn’t to harm the businesses,” she said. “Our goal is to make sure the businesses don’t harm the people.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
