A dingy Brooklyn restaurant, with a long list of damning health code violations, is the center of an illegal sales scheme involving dozens of immigrant women, who are on the move across the Big Apple. It turned out that people were buying and selling meals prepared in filthy kitchens on street corners.
Amid growing concern that such unregulated and potentially dangerous practices are taking place across the city, the Post reports that approximately They followed six polo peddlers, mostly illegal immigrants from Ecuador.
The dish is made at a Dominican restaurant in Bushwick called Guissao Restaurant, where up to 50 immigrants at a time are crammed into a small kitchen to cook the larvae, which are then transported in a van and placed in coolers. and delivered to illegal street sellers.
“When it comes to these illegal immigrant dealers, people need to know what's behind the food they eat,” said City Councilwoman Joanne Arriola (R-Queens), a health committee member who learned of the plan from the Post. We really need to know the story behind it.”
“These are not just kind grandmothers cooking meals in their home ovens; these are dozens of illegal aliens crammed into a filthy, violative kitchen in Bushwick to sell on the streets. This is a large-scale operation to produce large amounts of food.
“This is truly disgusting. I wish more people knew that their quick $10 lunch was actually made in a jam-packed kitchen… Pests. If there's feces strewn about and you don't know what else is out there, you might think twice before kicking the guy out in the corner.”
She continued, “And it's eating into local business as well, impacting the bottom line of stores that are trying to do the right thing and sell food the right way.”
Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the newspaper spotted a van carrying up to five Ecuadorian women along First Avenue and East 78th Street on the Upper East Side. The men unloaded 15 coolers filled with 50 to 100 pre-made lunch boxes.
Women ranging in age from early 20s to late 40s sell canned chicken, beef and fish over rice and fries, along with a can of Coke, for $10, mostly to local helmet sellers. did.
One woman admitted in Spanish that she and the other vendors were in the U.S. illegally and did not have permits to sell food.
“We don't want any problems. We're just here to sell and make money,” the woman said.
After the lunch rush, which drew about 25 customers, the van returned around 1:30 p.m. to collect the unsold containers.
The silver double-door van with tinted windows then headed 11 miles south to wholesaler Restaurant Depot in Masbeth, Queens, where it was met by another van with tinted windows. Three women and one man got out of both vans, and one woman went inside to retrieve meat and other food.
Everyone then loaded boxes of food into the back of a silver van and soon began a four-mile bee line at Guisao, 1062 Broadway.
There, restaurant employees told the Post the food would be prepared for vending the next day.
Guisao's manager admitted that “about 50 immigrants” regularly come there and cook in the kitchen with the help of staff.
In July, city health inspectors discovered a series of stomach-churning violations in Guixao, including traces of rats and insects. They received a total of 96 penalty points, earning them the lowest 'C' grade given by the Ministry of Health.
Guissao, which means “stew” in Spanish, also had a $10,959 lien for unpaid state taxes foreclosed last year, but has since been satisfied, records show.
Records show the business is registered with the state as a shadowy shell company called 1062 Food Corporation, and the names of its executives have not been disclosed.
The restaurant's manager claimed that the owner was Rafael Velos, but Velos insisted he could divulge his immigration activities because a woman named “Maria” had bought the restaurant several months earlier.
Then he blurted out to a reporter, “Wait, are you calling from the health department?'' It's not the health department, right? ”
Maria, who declined to give her last name, confirmed that she is Guisao's owner and that illegal immigrants do use the kitchen to prepare food and sell it at the construction site. She declined further comment.
Records show Guissao is sitting on the first floor of a three-story building in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, owned by a company called Vida Realty and SVC Corporation. edwin Rodriguez, who is listed as Vida's chief executive officer, insisted it was not his building.
Back in Manhattan, locals begged for a crackdown.
“got it [the migrants] They feel the need to make money, but as far as I know they aren't here legally and are “putting consumers at risk by selling unregulated food” East Sider Russell Rivera said. “There are people in the hospitality industry who are legitimately working hard. [the migrants are] Just show up and take their business. ”
Jose Leon, owner of Italian Village Pizza & Restaurant on the corner of East 78th Street and First Avenue, has seen a 30% drop in profits since immigrants started peddling outside his store nearly two years ago. He said he did.
“I understand it's affordable, but why should I be penalized when I pay taxes and insurance and everything?” he barked. “What's going on with this town?”
Selling food without a street vending license typically carries a $1,000 fine.
He said he filed about 20 complaints with the city, but to no avail.
Under Mayor Adams, the city has cracked down on illegal businesses, but has no record of cracking down on immigrants.
The New York City Police Department and Department of Sanitation, considered the main regulators of street vending regulations, have already issued more than 9,000 citations to sellers this year, according to a recent analysis. city boundaries.
This includes 5,747 tickets handed out by police through September, more than three times the 1,812 tickets handed out during the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. Health inspectors have handed out 3,281 tickets through October, more than double the 1,535 tickets the year before.
But Leon took matters into his own hands a few months ago. He reportedly told the women that he would “throw everything away.” [their] If they don't leave.
They listened and moved the container of food about 100 feet north, becoming a problem for other businesses.
