Current Events > NYC Mayor blames sanitation department for trashing food from viral video

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://nypost.com/2021/09/27/bill-de-blasio-slams-sanitation-department-for-trashing-fresh-food/

Mayor Bill de Blasio trashed his own sanitation department Monday blaming bureaucratic bumbling for fresh food getting destroyed when an illegal Bronx vendor was shut down. Hizzoner admitted that his city agencies reacted in precisely the wrong way when they were caught in viral video trashing crates of fresh fruit and vegetables last Thursday from a stand that was abandoned on Pelham Parkway. Im really sad about this Id never waste food, the mayor said Monday, recalling how his mom brought me up to finish everything on my plate. The notion that perfectly good food was thrown away is absolutely horrible. So it shouldnt happen, de Blasio said of the video that also sparked a local protest Sunday.

You got a lot of good quality food lets get it to a homeless shelter or food pantry someplace where it can be used, he said, saying it should never be thrown out and wasted. I think this is a classic thing of bureaucracies not communicating and not using common sense, the mayor admitted Monday. Im disappointed, and were gonna have to figure out some quick, new approaches to make sure this never happens again, he vowed. The videos, shared by the Street Vendor Project, came after officials shut down the stand being run by Diana Hernandez Cruz, who said she had worked there for five years although she admitted she did not have a permit. Sources told The Post that Cruz had been given multiple warnings in both English and Spanish before she abandoned her Pelham Parkway stall at the junction with White Plains Road last Thursday. Because a health department official was not there to rule on whether the food was safe, garbage trucks were called in to get rid of it, the sources said. Cruz estimated to AM NY that she lost $10,000 worth of produce but sources said the city workers only took a small amount when a crowd gathered and quickly got out of hand, as caught on the video footage. Theres people out here aint got no motherfucking food, one woman yells at them, adding, How fucking dare you.

https://twitter.com/VendorPower/status/1441751669725929474




---

Food waste is inevitable.

---

BlingBling22947 posted...

Food waste is inevitable.

This. You'd be amazed how much food grocery stores and restaurants throw out.

---

if all the foods are distributed right, there will be no hunger.

---

FFS, Its not like that shit grows on trees

---

Ricemills posted...

if all the foods are distributed right, there will be no hunger.

Yeah but how will people feel better than poor people if they get free garbage food

---

R1masher posted...

FFS, Its not like that shit grows on trees

Heh.
---

NYC already suffers from food deserts. Trashing that stand is a huge and a disaster for the residents

---

Stuff like this is frustrating because there's a good reason to have regulations around food safety, especially during a pandemic, and destroying food that you can't guarantee won't make people sick is the right move. At the same time, people see what looks like perfectly fine produce going to waste and they have a reason to be upset.

I don't know what the right move is. NYC could deregulate the food or give legal indemnification to any food store that gives food they're going to trash away and just... see what happens? That sounds like a recipe for disaster, though.

The other question is... why didn't this woman have a permit? Was it that she didn't know how to get one? Didn't want to pay the fee? Was hoping to avoid paying taxes on sales? This situation could also have been resolved if she was operating legally, so looking into why she wasn't could also prevent issues like this in the future.

---

Does NYC not have a farmers market?

s0nicfan posted...

Stuff like this is frustrating because there's a good reason to have regulations around food safety, especially during a pandemic, and destroying food that you can't guarantee won't make people sick is the right move. At the same time, people see what looks like perfectly fine produce going to waste and they have a reason to be upset.

Yeah it kind of reminds me of the story I read about a grocery store that lost power and people were mad that the store wasn't letting them take free meat out of the dumpster. Obviously in that case it was a little more clear-cut, but considering this stall didn't even have a permit you really can't just assume that all the produce has been inspected and is safe to disperse like that. Meanwhile people understandably trust the city not to give away bad food

---

Questionmarktarius posted...

Does NYC not have a farmers market?

Our Farmers Markets tend to be on the street like this womans street cart. Them having these fruit carts are actually a blessing for the people of the city

---

Diblasio is a fucking idiot

---

I looked it up and a license to sell produce is only $250 for 2 years in Manhattan and is only a 2 page form. A license to sell food from a cart is even cheaper ($10-50). So there's really no reason why this woman was operating for years without having a license unless nobody ever told her that she needed to apply for one.

https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/retail-food-store-license
https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/mobile-food-vending-license

---

s0nicfan posted...

I looked it up and a license to sell produce is only $250 for 2 years in Manhattan and is only a 2 page form. A license to sell food from a cart is even cheaper ($10-50). So there's really no reason why this woman was operating for years without having a license unless nobody ever told her that she needed to apply for one.

https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/retail-food-store-license
https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/mobile-food-vending-license

If she is an undocumented immigrant she may be wary of dealing with city services

---

Food Cart licenses are artificially restricted, there is a limited supply and on the open market they go for about $20,000.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/nyregion/street-vendors-permits-nyc.html

Just like how NYC created an artificial restriction on Taxi Medallions and those go for about $500,000 for a license.

I wouldn't be surprised if the situation is the same for the Produce Carts

---

I'm just baffled as to how she could do it for 5 years doing that much business and not get shut down sooner. She's claiming there was $10k worth of produce in the stall at the time it shut down

---

RemixRBG posted...

NYC already suffers from food deserts. Trashing that stand is a huge and a disaster for the residents

Not as big a disaster as if they sold unsafe food that sent people to hospitals.

---

AssultTank posted...

Sadly in a case like this, the city just simply can't trust that the food is safe to eat. Imagine if they had donated it and it was unsafe... God the negative PR would be even worse than this situation

Yeah, this is 100% a lose lose situation pr wise, but DiBlasio didn't have to throw sanitation under the bus like he did.

---

My local food bank doesn't even accept private fresh food donations, let alone $10,000 worth of questionably sourced street market food.

---

Crazyman93 posted...

Not as big a disaster as if they sold unsafe food that sent people to hospitals.

Ther chances of that are very slim. Ther city doesn't even inspect registered food carts and outside carts often. I'd trust this womans market over the average food cart in NYC. I've seen some very bad behavior from them

---

RemixRBG posted...

Food Cart licenses are artificially restricted, there is a limited supply and on the open market they go for about $20,000.

This is why needing permission from some pencil-pusher to run a business is usually terrible.
The model needs to change from "may issue license" to "shall inspect and certify". The market itself will clean up oversaturation.

Should of just hand them out, what are they doing

---

Someday, we wont throw anything out, and we'll just have to cut off the mold, cause it will be unimaginable to throw it out cause we're so hungry

JimmyFraska posted...

Someday, we wont throw anything out, and we'll just have to cut off the mold, cause it will be unimaginable to throw it out cause we're so hungry

what do you have against mold?

Questionmarktarius posted...

what do you have against mold?

im a mold lover personally

JimmyFraska posted...

im a mold lover personally

Nice. That's free penicillin.