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23 Sep 08
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Mr. Juárez and a handful of other Hispanic farmers sell sought-after Mexican produce and spices at greenmarkets in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, on 175th Street in Washington Heights and on Staten Island
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In recent years, the island’s Mexicans have built up the long-shuttered and drug-ridden Port Richmond Avenue, one of the North Shore’s main shopping strips, and have transformed the faded commercial center into a bustling thoroughfare.
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life’s possessions: filing cabinets filled with clothes; free weights that he uses to keep in shape during the winter; a bed; a small dining table; a television to watch telenovelas; and a coffeemaker perched atop a crate, where he makes the first of the 10 cups he drinks daily. A beaded cross decorates a forest green wall.
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New Farmer Development Project, an eight-year-old nonprofit training program that helps immigrant farmers ply their trade in the New York region. Mr. Juárez was one of the first participants, and he is one of 18 who still farm today. His plot is part of the Staten Island Historical Society’s 11-acre Decker Farm, tucked between the Staten Island Mall and a golf course in historic Richmond Town.
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Monday is his day off from cooking at a local Italian restaurant, where he labors 60 hours a week in a small, poorly ventilated kitchen. “Only work, work and work,” Mr. Juárez said as he stood sipping his hot and sour soup.
He spends an additional 20 hours on the farm each week
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