Community Cries ‘Fowl’

Neighbors are crying foul after a poultry shop in Woodside was allowed to reopen for business two weeks ago, less than three months after being shut down.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ordered the closure of Bismillah Live Poultry, located at 37-15 55th Street, in April after their inspectors walked through and found an unpleasant odor emanating from its slaughterhouse.
“The entire block is fed up with these guys,” said Dr. Marcelo Zappi, who along with his father, Dr. Eduardo Zappi — president of Zappi Real Estate Holding Corporation — has been petitioning different agencies including the DEP, Department of Health, Buildings, and Agriculture and Markets to carefully inspect Bismillah for more than three years.
Zappi’s corporation owns the building directly next to Bismillah, which has been vacant for almost two years. That was when Zappi’s previous tenant left because of the nauseating odors — a move that cost the family nearly $100,000 in rent, according to Marcelo.
Since Bismillah was allowed to reopen, however, neighbors acknowledged that the smell has improved somewhat.
“Our place smells better now, but the stench is still there,” Marcelo said.
After filing an appeal to reopen, Bismillah said they are following guidelines set forth by the DEP in order to eliminate the odor, as well as make sure their store remains clean.
Bismillah entered into a two-year contract with Aireactor Incorporated, an odor-control company in Maspeth, who comes in weekly to clean Bismillah’s entire premises.
“We are doing everything we can to keep it clean inside,” said Salam Bhuy, manager for Bismillah. “We are doing everything DEP required of us.”
Bhuy acknowledged that relationships with the neighbors are tenuous, but declined to accuse them of having a vendetta against his store.
Instead, Bhuy said he wants to continue running his business while his neighbors run theirs.
However, neighbors are concerned that if city agencies do not keep a closer watch on Bismillah, many of the old problems will resurface.
“It’s nothing personal, but I know we are going to smell something soon,” said Paul Troise, who owns Power Street Metal, a ventilation company that is adjacent to Bismillah on the other side of Zappi’s building. “I had a hard time sleeping when I heard they were reopening again.”