Vendors Leave Rotting Fruits, Garbage Around Subway Stations

We’ve been receiving an increasing number of complaints recently about the fruit vendors who hawk their goods underneath the subway stations at Sheephead Bay Road and Gravesend Neck Road. The latest, which comes with a photo, is from nolastname.

Nolastname saw the vendors abandon their garbage, consisting of both empty boxes and cartons full of rotten fruits, at the Gravesend Neck Road station. We’ve also seen the garbage at the Sheepshead Bay Road station, and have also spotted them dumping in the MTA subway embankment on East 15th Street between Avenue Y and Avenue Z.

These vendors, who may be operating illegally (which we’ll be checking on), add to the already icky situation underneath the stations, not to mention the business they take away from local establishments who pay to sell their goods by the book.

Judging by the fact that they’ve been vending in these spots for years, it appears a number of residents continue to patronize them. Are they a boon to the community for their cheap prices, or a bust for the filth that they leave around?