With her 11-month-old daughter, Marizol goes out to sell fruit in the busy South Conduit, near JFK airport.
“The same and it’s work. I think, it’s not right, but I have to work anyway to get ahead,” Marizol said.
Mother of five children, Marizol crossed the border from Guatemala to New York City five months ago. Due to a lack of legal help, she has not been able to request asylum, and for the same reason, she has not been able to find a job either.
“I was working cleaning but they paid me 13 dollars and it wasn’t enough. To pay for my baby it costs 35 dollars and from there I don’t get anything for food, rent. It wasn’t enough for me and I went out to sell like that,” added Marizol.
With this, Marizol manages to bring home around 150 dollars a day.
From Howard Beach to Rosedale, along the ‘south and north conduit’, there are dozens of street vendors, many with children.
The mother of two children, ages 7 and 12, said that a year ago they arrived from Ecuador across the border.
“I need to work and I also need my babies to be here with me, I know that they are here by my side and many things can happen at home,” said Rosa Pérez.
But the danger to which they are exposed worries area residents, who say this is a new problem in the community created by the immigration crisis facing the city.
“I feel like it’s a city, state and federal government problem. Everyone has to address this situation and I think they really need to come together to come up with a plan,” said Aracelia Cook, president of the 149th St. South Ozone Park Block Association.
Cook added that the authorities have to implement measures to stop these sales before a tragedy occurs.
“This is affecting our quality of life,” Cook said.
Complaints from these neighbors have reached the office of area elected officials.
“They call me afraid to see the children who are in the center and in the middle of the lanes,” said Councilwoman Joann Ariola. “If vendors see the police come and evict them, they don’t see the benefit of going back to that location and they move further forward.”
In a statement, an NYPD spokesperson told us that the 106th Precinct is aware of the situation and is working to address it.
2023-08-09 19:41:00
#work #ahead #immigrant
