FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com MARCH 6, 2014 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11 Jackson Heights ‘grande’ garbage problem BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com/@ aaltamirano28 There’s a battle brewing in one Jackson Heights neighborhood. Councilmember Daniel Dromm and local residents are steamed that the Starbucks located at 78-25 37th Avenue has allegedly been leaving its garbage on residential 79th Street instead of in front of the coffee shop. “It’s really kind of sad that we have to be out here because we are trying to work so hard with Starbucks to get them to be responsible, but yet they remain irresponsible and they don’t want to help the neighborhood,” Dromm said. “They’ve become bad neighbors and they refuse to cooperate.” The councilmember claims that the coffee shop is in violation of the city administrative code that says businesses must place their garbage on the curb at certain designated times. For more than one year, Dromm’s offi ce has received complaints from residents on 79th Street about the garbage, which at times stacks up and may be left out on the curb for more than a day. “This is a real quality of life issue, especially for those of us whose apartments face 79th Street, where we are subject to loud garbage pickups in the middle of the night and food and coffee grinds that are strewn along the sidewalk and street and never cleaned up,” said resident Susan Latham. “It’s disgusting.” Dromm, who lives on 78th Street, said he has attempted to reach out to the manager of the location and the Starbucks district offi ce, but has not heard back. The residents have also tried calling 3-1-1 but no fi nes have been issued because Starbucks leaves the garbage close to 50 feet away from their location, making it hard to fi nd. “Starbucks has been littering heavily on 79th Street for several years. This is against the law,” said Elisa Carlucci, who lives on 79th Street. “City agencies, although acting in good faith, have been unable to have any impact because they’re searching the wrong area.” Courtesy Offi ce of Councilmember Daniel Dromm “We’re going to ask people, don’t patronize Starbucks until they work with the neighborhood,” Dromm said. “Enough is enough, we’ve had it.” Starbucks will be looking into this case and make sure all standards are being met, according to company spokesperson Laurel Harper. “Being a good neighbor is really important to Starbucks, and we have stringent cleanliness standards in place for our stores and for the proper disposal of garbage,” Harper said. “We’re looking into this and making sure our standards are being followed, and look forward to working with our neighbors to address their concerns.” THE COURIER/Photo by Angy Altamirano Councilmember Daniel Dromm and Jackson Heights residents are calling on Starbucks to be a “good neighbor” and stop dumping its garbage on their residential street. 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