By Gus Saltonstall
If you walked by Yusuf on Tuesday morning at his fruit and vegetable stand on West 97th Street and Broadway, you’d have no idea that one day before a fire ripped through his entire operation.
“Everybody’s okay, nobody was hurt,” Yusuf, who did not provide his last name, told West Rag on Tuesday, while adding that the flames were caused after a new space heater that he had only gotten on Monday ignited on the plastic tarp he had been using in the last few weeks to protect against the cold.
All in all, he said that he lost around $7,000 of produce in the flames, along with the table used to display the fruits and vegetables.
But on Tuesday morning, Yusuf was restocked and back selling his avocados, blueberries, broccoli, grapes, oranges, tomatoes, and other goods.
“We love this spot,” Yusuf said about the Upper West Side corner where he or other members of his family have been selling produce for the last 17 years. “We come out every day, no matter the cold. I didn’t want to miss a single day.”
The fruit and vegetable stand is open 24 hours a day.
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Does he have a license? Does he pay any fees? Where does he get his fruit from?