Fowl Or Fair:

A fowl smell is raising a stink in Queens Village. The construction of a poultry slaughterhouse is under way at 98-04 Springfield Boulevard, and it has Assemblywoman Barbara Clark and residents near the location squawking mad.
"There are plenty of people who live in the area who like fresh meat and poultry," said Clark in an interview with The Queens Courier. "The reality is that I dont want to go across the street from my house to get it. That means my quality of life has been totally diminished."
The assemblywoman is concerned that the smell and waste from killed chickens will reduce the quality of life for residents in houses directly across from the business and those a block down the street.
Clark said an overwhelming amount of residents who attended a November 30 meeting about the slaughterhouse said they did not want it on Springfield Boulevard.
However, the owner of the slaughterhouse, Sheik Anif, told The Queens Courier that his business was legal.
"When they say slaughterhouse, it makes it sound bad," said Anif. "I dont deal with livestock, just chickens."
The site is zoned as M1, a class normally designated for small knitting and manufacturing mills, but which also permits stores that kill poultry and smaller animals. Under this zoning, slaughtering larger animals like goats or cattle is not permitted, unless the owner of such livestock brings it to the store and asks for it to be killed.
Anif said residents will not smell anything. He stressed that he will comply with the Department of Agriculture and will personally see to it that all refuse will be frozen and properly removed from the store methods that reduce noisome odors. He also said he would only be killing chickens.
Anif, who has lived in Queens Village for 23 years, said that he has worked in the business for 10 years and never had any complaints.
His assurances did not persuade Clark to call off her campaign, though.
Clark said that other slaughterhouses along Jamaica Avenue have received complaints for their smells and, though not permitted, they routinely kill larger livestock, which create worse odors. Moreover, businesses near slaughterhouses have complained that they attract rats.
The assemblywoman also said that Anif previously owned a slaughterhouse on 168th Street that closed down. She is investigating the reasons it closed.
Anif said that he is not looking for trouble with his neighbors, and said that he would be willing to move elsewhere if the community reimbursed him the money he invested for a 10-year lease on the property. In a Daily News article, he cited his investment at $70,000, an amount, said the assemblywoman, that magically jumped by $20,000. In a meeting the two had when Anif first started construction, she said he told her the amount was $50,000.