Brooklyn’s Eighth Avenue fruit stand faced a sudden raid by the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) this week, where all the fruits were confiscated and loaded onto trucks, sparking widespread community concern. Two days later (April 16), over a dozen businesses near Eighth Avenue turned to State Assemblyman John Cheng for help, expressing that frequent confiscations of goods and unclear regulations were seriously impacting their livelihoods.
On the day of the incident, DSNY personnel arrived at the corner of Eighth Avenue and 57th Street in the afternoon, loading all the merchandise from a fruit stand extending from the side of a store onto their truck. The shop owner, unable to communicate with the enforcement officers due to a lack of English proficiency, could only watch as fruits worth approximately ten thousand dollars were seized.
Mr. Liu, who operates a vegetable and fruit stall at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 53rd Street, stated during an interview on the 16th that he had started his business after the pandemic in 2019. He had been inspected twice a year in 2023 and 2024, resulting in losses ranging from three to four thousand dollars to nearly ten thousand dollars each time. Despite his compliance with tax reporting and licensing requirements, and previous checks by the sanitation department not indicating any issues with his stall, he was recently informed that what was legal had now become illegal, leaving him at a loss.
“We have licenses for all three stands, it’s legitimate,” Mr. Liu said. “But we were still inspected twice this year. They said our license wasn’t for selling fruits, so we found an accountant and reapplied for a new license indicating the sale of fruits and vegetables, changed the address from the original second floor to the correct street-level storefront, established a new company name, ‘Glasses Fruits Company,’ but they still said it wasn’t acceptable.”
“They now say, if you want to sell fruits, you have to do it inside the store, not just apply for a new license and set up at the glasses store entrance. But the issue is, this license was also issued by the government, no one said we couldn’t do it that way when we applied.”
Mr. Liu mentioned that many stall owners also use similar business licenses, some rent space within shops and set up displays as a basis for extending their stalls outside. He revealed that when a friend who spoke English once inquired with enforcement officers, the response at the time was, “The policy hasn’t come down yet.” Just two or three weeks later, sanitation personnel returned and emptied his stall directly.
Feeling helpless, Mr. Liu pointed out that many vendors have similar practices to his, “but others are fine.” Initially, he tried to comply with regulations by shrinking his stall to within three feet and still encountered confiscation despite feeling like he has been “caught the most in recent years.” He hasn’t dared set up his stall for almost two weeks, but keeping fruits in the warehouse leads to spoilage, still facing losses. He said, “If Eighth Avenue bans street vending like Flushing, then we’ll just give up.” He is now considering renting a store to operate.
Regarding switching to Seventh Avenue or other locations for operations, Mr. Liu stated, “I’ve been here since the pandemic, it’s been five or six years, and my regular customers are here. Eighth Avenue has the most foot traffic, it’s the best place to sell fruits; fruits only sell well on Eighth Avenue.”
Regarding the proposal from the Prosperous Brooklyn Association to set up an “Open Street Market” on vacant land at 61st Street, Mr. Liu also expressed skepticism about its feasibility, believing that concentrating everyone in one place would only intensify competition.
In response to the recent confiscations, Ling Fei, an officer of the Prosperous Brooklyn Association, expressed difficulty sympathizing with some vendors who knowingly violate the law while hoping to evade confiscation.
He pointed out that according to explicit city regulations, each store can only have one business license, and if extending operations outside the storefront, the sold goods must correspond with the registered content of that license. For example, a glasses store can only sell glasses and not fruits. Some vendors establish new companies with separate cash registers at addresses different from the store’s, constituting two separate operations legally rather than loopholes.
Using Mr. Liu as an example, even though he applied for a new license specifying the sale of fruits, the address listed on the license was the same as the original glasses store and did not clearly label the business location as the sidewalk, thus still not meeting the requirements.
It is understood that recent confiscations are related to phenomena such as taking payments outside the store, becoming a crucial basis for sanitation authorities in determining violations.
Ling Fei further explained that among the vendors inspected, some had participated in briefings held by the Prosperous Brooklyn Association and representatives of the city, clearly understanding the regulations then. They also admitted to the violations, just hoping not to have their merchandise confiscated.
“Earning thousands a day selling fruits, being fined 50, 100, or even 300 dollars, they don’t care. Now their attitude is: I know I’m breaking the rules, but don’t seize my goods. This kind of mindset is unreasonable,” Ling Fei stated frankly.
Regarding vendors who do not speak English and face difficulties in querying enforcement personnel, Ling Fei expressed understanding, suggesting that the city should dispatch enforcement officers who speak Chinese and enhance Chinese language promotion before enforcement to ensure immigrant business owners clearly understand the legal requirements, reducing misunderstandings and conflicts.
He emphasized that the root of the issue is not language but that some businesses “aren’t ignorant but unwilling to change.” He believed that if vendors aim for long-term operation, they should comply with regulations instead of persisting with a “lucky” mentality repeatedly. “I’m not unsupportive of business rights, but they also need to understand that this way of operation is unsustainable in the long run.”