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Allegedly unsanitary Starbucks angers Queens residents
Residents complain of coffee grinds, food scraps dumped on the street
A Jackson Heights Starbucks is drawing the ire of neighbors for allegedly unloading its trash all over the street.
Local residents and a local Jackson Heights politician gathered in front of the coffee chain’s 37th Avenue and 79th Street outpost Friday morning, railing against the store for allegedly leaving unsecured garbage along 79th Street in the Queens neighborhood. Coffee grinds, food and other trash is scattered around the roadway and they are concerned about problems with rodents and bugs.
Repeated calls to the store’s manager, 311 and other agencies have yielded no results, Elisa Carlucci, an area resident, told DNAinfo. “We have reached out to all parties involved and have been completely ignored,” she told the news site.
A spokesperson for the city Department of Sanitation told DNAinfo that the Starbucks received a $100 summons on Jan. 3 2013 for a dirty sidewalk, and has paid in full, and another from Feb. 5 that same year that was not paid.
Starbucks spokesperson Laurel Harper told DNAinfo that “being a good neighbor is really important to the coffee chain,” which she said has “stringent cleanliness standards in place for inside and outside our stores.” [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland