Two years ago, 71st Continental Ave., between Queens Boulevard and Austin Street, was busy with fast-walking shoppers and commuters who encountered no obstacles on the sidewalk other than each other. In the past year, however, commercial stands have been sprouting up and down the sidewalk, changing the atmosphere from a bustling suburb shopping area to a Manhattan-like street.
The first to come was the fruit stand, whose workers relayed so that they were open for business 24 hours a day. Soon to follow was the Gyro stand, with its mouth-watering aroma that fills the street day and night, the “Nuts 4 Nuts” cart that occasionally shows up, and the perfume table available on the sunny days. What’s amazing about some of these stands, however, is that they manage to be open at all hours of the day and night.
On a Thursday evening, around 11:30 p.m. last year, I met a student from Turkey, who was studying micro-engineering at Columbia University. He had a full scholarship, he said, but money from the fruit stand job helped him pay for rent.
A Sunday morning at 3:30, a couple of weeks ago, Cida, an Egyptian immigrant, was working at the gyro stand. When I passed by again around 8:30, he was still there. ”I do the 9 to 9 shift on Sundays,” he explained.
And every time I walk to the train station in the wee hours of the morning, someone is sitting by the fruits, and someone is sleeping in the gyro stand. Do they rent out a piece of sidewalk from the city? Is staying there all night really profitable? It is worth a look…