By Dan Trudeau
In an ongoing struggle between Bellerose residents and Hillside Avenue businesses and developers, neighbors living near the Subzi Mandi supermarket at 249-12 Hillside Ave. have filed complaints against the store, which they say produces excessive noise and garbage and attracts vermin.
Residents and members of Community Board 13 said they have been attempting to force the supermarket to clean up its act for months through a variety of means, including enlisting the help of state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) and City Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis). But they contend they have seen very little change.
“What else can you do but get those agencies that are supposed to have responsibility to do what they're supposed to do?” Padavan said. “The only solution is to continue to keep pressure on these people and hit them with fines so that eventually it will sink in that they have to be good neighbors.”
According to Padavan, citations from city regulatory agencies have been piling up for the Subzi Mandi market since 2001, while baiting and extermination of rats by the city Health Department has helped the problem somewhat.
He also said police had issued citations to the market because large delivery trucks have blocked driveways and contributed to noise pollution in the residential area behind the store. The senator pointed out that three failed inspections by the Department of Agricultural Markets have cost the market $900 and that continued diligence and political pressure are bound to elicit a more profound change.
Neighbors say the manager of the market, Najian Singh, has been invited to meetings of the Bellerose Commonwealth Civic Association and CB 13 to discuss the situation with the community, but has declined to attend, further frustrating those who want their complaints addressed.
Management for the Subzi Mandi store did not return telephone messages from the TimesLedger about the complaints and a Subzi Mandi employee declined to pass along a request for an interview with the management.
“The fruit store has made this area chaos. They're filthy,” said Ruben Gonzalez, a neighbor and Bellerose Commonwealth Civic Association member. “These stores are popping up and they just want to put (garbage) out on the sidewalk, and it's just killing the neighborhood.”
Gonzalez said a Department of Sanitation citation in May did little to stem the volume of waste the market produces, noting he could not determine if the business was licensed by the Department of Buildings because it is subdivided with a furniture store in the same building.
“If there's no license for the food store, how are they operating?” Gonzalez asked, adding, “There's got to be a law that can help us, but it's hard to find out who we have to talk to.”
Spokesmen from the Department of Buildings and the Department of Sanitation had no comment about the supermarket.
Weprin said that while small businesses are important to the economic health of a neighborhood, it is important that public officials always keep residents in mind.
“Clearly we have to have a balance (between residents and businesses),” Weprin said. “But the main concern should be the protection of the public.”
Richard Hellenbrecht, chairman of Community Board 13, said the clash is one of several taking place in the neighborhood, citing the development of a strip mall on Hillside Avenue and 260th Street as another example of commerce and residents butting heads.
The “as of right” zoning status allows area landlords to use the land as they see fit, giving businesses the right to operate in mostly residential areas without fear of punishment, Hellenbrecht said. CB 13 covers Bellerose.
“It's a very frustrating situation,” he said. “The owners probably don't think they owe anything to the community, so you've got to shake things up every now then: You've got to stir the paint.”
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