NYC turns blind eye as migrants with babies sell fruit along deadly highways
By Rich Calder and
Georgia Worrell
May 20, 2023 6:25pm
2 young mothers who illegally migrated 3 months ago from Ecuador peddled cups of fruit for $5 a pop and bottles of water for a buck on the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue in Queens.
Stephen Yang
Some of New York City’s busiest highways and roads are drawing migrant moms so desperate to make a buck that they hawk mangoes and drinks in traffic — often with babies strapped to their backs.
Along the bustling, notoriously dangerous intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue in Queens on Friday, two young mothers who illegally migrated three months ago from Ecuador peddled cups of fruit for $5 a pop and bottles of water for a buck.
Maria, 20, had her year-old infant strapped to her back.
Veronica, 25, carried her 3-year-old daughter the same way, weaving around cars to score sales when traffic stopped for a red light.
“We don’t want to be on the street,” said Veronica.
“What we want in this country is a real job.”
“A lot of people who see us selling here take pictures and videos of us, and say ‘You can’t be here selling like this’ and ‘Not with your baby,'” added Veronica, who shares a two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment with five family members.
But “some days there is no one to leave them with … [and] if we don’t work, we can’t pay the rent [and buy] food … for the babies.”
Maria said she has little choice when the alternative is not working.
more
https://nypost.com/2023/05/20/migrants-with-babies-selling-mangoes-on-dangerous-nyc-roads/
