April 25, 2014 By Christian Murray
Mosammad Hossain, a Sunnyside resident who used to sell Halal food from his cart under the 40th Street station, has found a new location.
He has moved up the street to a new spot outside TD Bank, on the corner of Queens Boulevard and 41st Street.
Hossain said that his business is still doing fine despite the police forcing him to move for being too close to the art installation. However, he said, he would like to go back to his old location where he was for almost 4 years. However, “the police told me I had to go because of the art; they told me to go elsewhere.”
Hossain said he is looking for the support of the community to ensure he can stay in Sunnyside. He said he lives on 48th Street and 47th Avenue and has a 9-year-old son who attends PS 199. He said he also supports his mother.
Meanwhile, Sheref Abdelshafy, best known for his food cart under the 40th Street No. 7 train station, is staying put. He continues to sell coffee and bagels between 5 am and 10 am each day– like he has done for the past 10 years.
Abdelshafy said he was asked to leave due to the art installation and for being too close to the exits on the No. 7 train. He said he was nowhere near the exits and that it’s not fair. Furthermore, he said, the art installation had been up for months before he and Hossain were told to leave.
Abdelshafy said that some residents are going to go to the next community board meeting to advocate on his behalf. That is schedule for May 1.
26 Comments
This is freakin’ New York City, people. You don’t want food carts, move to Montana, and let this poor guy earn a living.
As far as getting involved and making changes, it should be noted that it’s pretty evenly divided: half the community wants food carts, the other half does not. Personally, I don’t like the smell of whatever those taco trucks are cooking, and no one ever cleans the grease off the sidewalks. Check it out next time you’re eating a taco made out of organ-meat. Yecch.
@future is now I asked about it and was told that no parking spots will be lost for the plazas.
Art project was supposed to be a fitness opportunity. I haven’t seen any signs on it on how to use for exercise, anyone else? http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130508/sunnyside/new-art-under-7-train-station-gets-riders-back-on-fitness-track
The art project is only supposed to be there for one year total, according to this link above. It’s a Dept. of Transportation-commissioned project.
Start filing your complaints about the art project – http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/contact/contact-form.shtml – or call 311. Have you tripped? Has your elderly relative using a cane had trouble getting across the area? What about your friends with strollers, crutches, physical impairments, etc.?
DOT is also in charge of the Plaza Project so let them know what a ridiculous idea it is to take away parking so they can put chairs and tables under the el.
In 4 weeks, a filthy sidewalk. I guess he does what ever he wants to. I wonder if this is his neighborhood or if he only comes here to make money.
What an annoying pest this guy is..
So welding a bunch of metal pipes together, sticking them in a spot where people could get hurt by them is now art?
If that’s the case, the outside of the E-Bike shop is the bloody Louvre.
Art installation? Lol
If you want change get involved and let’s try and make changes. Complaining to the Sunnyside Post won’t do it. It will just make you feel better.
Where s the community meeting on May 1st and at what time?
Get ready amigo, the next ssp conley banner ad is coming soon… just a few days away.
MR CONLEY WISHES YOU AND YOURS A HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!
Dear mr conley and CB:
I hope the coffee guy is allowes to stay where he has always been. It is quite sad, especially when over grown adults, devoid of any logic, use media attention and the law to bully a fellow sunnysider.
I hope the next CB meeting is geared towards discussing real problems sunnysiders face.
1. Crowded 7 during rush hour.
2. Inadequate green spaces.
3. Safety: Clear digital cameras for buildings and businesses.
4. Police text alerts for crime reports. Not after the fact!
5. Parking.
6. Parking.
7.prekindergarten
8. Why does heavy construction begin so early ?
9. Creating technology infrastructure: jobs, cheap internet, startups.
I’m looking forward to meeting the advocates of the Halal truck at the May 1st community planning board meeting. Will Squirts shave before the meeting? Somehow, I don’t think the folks at TD Bank are going to stand idle while this guy conducts a food business on the sidewalk right in front of the bank entrance. How long before the boys at Butcher Block knee cap Mr. Hossain if he stays at that corner too long? Won’t his brethren at Burger King want to eliminate a competitor who gladly provides all you want red and/or white sauce compared with the grudging attitude about ketchup packets at BK?
Art and food vendors both can co-exist together! Do the police have the right to move vendors because they’re “too close to the art??”
Art installation? It’s a joke. It serves no purpose and just seems stuck where there should be space as it gets pretty crowded at the subway exit. I’m glad he has a spot.
you mean you can just roll that filthy thing anywhere and set up business??
i dont know, he’s kind of on squirts’ territory now. Squirts has got Butchers Block to Cafe Bene. So a man spending 8 hrs a day in this thing with no bathroom and sink? Jimmy should come with a cotton swab test.
John Galt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Galt
Art may ass. That’s just a twisted bit of metal and a safety hazard.
@Beenhere Go ahead, Bloomberg did it. He just made himself mayor for one more term because he thought he should! No one else did, except of course his development friends. And during that term he really got through all his buddies’ projects, which are KILLING people who have lived here as faithful good citizens for decades and don’t freakin’ deserve the economic execution we are getting.
Halal man, you stay right where you are if you want to. You are NOT a lawbreaker. Joe Conely is a trust breaker with the community he has manipulated for a good number of years.
Joe, please stop torturing us. Why don’t you move to Jersey, huh?
Who is John Galt?
Maybe I’ll break the law also because I think it’s unfair. Get him out of there.
Tom Joad Lives!
Read closely, only the halal guy got kicked out. The coffee guy is still there because he was supposedly a bit farther from the art and the subway exits.
this morning on my way to work – there was the guy selling coffee under the 40th St. subway station — so much for following the law!
Fight the power Abdelshafy!