Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Sammy Kassem is a hero in an unlikely place. The Bay Ridge street vendor is also the Vendy Awards’ first honoree of 2012.  According to a statement by the Urban Justice Center, a “non-profit organization that provides legal representation and advocacy to various marginalized groups of New Yorkers,” Kassem is being honored for “his perseverance and commitment to street vendors’ rights” in the face of opposition from anti-vendor businesses in his Bay Ridge community.

The “Most Heroic Vendor” award, of which Kassem is this year’s recipient, is regularly awarded to vendors who contribute to the City’s well-being, whether it’s by “spotting fires,” “spotting car bombers” or standing up for vendors’ rights. These vendors are often the eyes and ears of the streets.

In Kassem’s case, the 21-year-old Halal food vendor is being praised for standing up to those businesses which have tried everything to “push him out,” according to the statement. These businesses partook in some regular, old-fashioned bullying, including nailing park benches to his regular vending spot. In the face of their aggressive actions, Kassem has consistently asserted he has as much of a right to make a living there, rather than back down.

“Up against circumstances that would break most people, Sammy has triumphed,” said Sean Basinski, Director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center.

According to the Center’s release: “vendors make hundreds of small contributions each day that often go unrecognized.” The project aims to change that fact, one heroic vendor at a time.

A number of vendors receiving awards, including Kassem, will be presented on September 15 at Governor’s Island in the Vendy Awards Ceremony.

—Alissa Fleck

Flood and her mother Anette had just parked her car in front of the house five minutes ago. Now, it was teetering on the edge of a 20-foot-deep by 20-foot-wide sinkhole that had opened up while she was inside.

Photo of the Bay Ridge Sinkhole by Twitter user @gazawia

“We’re so blessed,” she told CBS News. “If we were five minutes later or anything, we could have been in the hole.”

FDNY and members of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) arrived at the scene — 79th Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues — and were able to rescue the car. No injuries were reported, though some family’s cars were stuck in their driveways.

According to the DEP, the hole was caused by the collapse of a 50-inch, century-old sewer pipe.  It remains unclear, however, exactly why the hole opened up.

DEP spokesperson Jim Roberts says repairs will last at least through the weekend. “It’s a reasonably deep excavation, so we have to be cautious about how we go about it so it’s safely done,”  he told CBS.

Some residents are skeptical about the quality of work that is going into the city’s street construction in the first place. Christine Hansen said to CBS, “The work is shabby. They’re not doing the work right. It’s not being filled in properly.”

Whether or not Hansen is correct, this certainly isn’t the first sinkhole the city has seen. In fact, one appeared last month just 15 blocks away.

One struck 106th Street in Manhattan a year ago when a water main broke and flooded several subway stations.

A reoccurring one also stopped traffic in Midtown last year.

One hit Bedford Park in 2010.

One even swallowed an SUV in Brooklyn back in 2006.

The list goes on, sadly. Know of more? Share your New York City sinkhole story below!