Brooklyn residents are raising a stink over a neighbor whose habit of drying fish outside on a clothesline is making one corner of Bensonhurt smell like low tide in Jamaica Bay.
The dangling dead fish have such a pungent odor that desperate residents of 64th Street have turned to 311 for help — but they say the city is doing nothing to stop it.
“I called 311 to find out if there was a health violation, and they really didn’t know,” said resident Cynthia Christo.
Christo, 48, said she first realized something disgusting was going on behind her neighbor’s home when she saw a woman beating on an object with her hand in an apparent attempt to shoo away flies.
It was then that she realized the insects were landing on about a dozen hanging fish. That’s also when she first smelled the overwhelming odor.
“They use their porch as a refrigerator,” she said.
The family continued to dry fish and stink up the area for about a month, before Christo finally had enough and called the city.
She said the fishy situation only confused the 311 operator.
“They didn’t know what to label it under,” Christo vented to the blog Bensonhurst Bean.
A city official on Thursday finally gave an answer to The Post, saying the fish aficionado was in the clear.
“It’s not illegal or against any rules to hang fish outside your window,” the official said.
There is no category in 311’s system to address smelly fish, and most odor complaints are referred to 911 in case it is connected to a gas leak, the official said.
The official also defended the 311 operators, saying that they made a “valiant effort” and adding that, while trying to transfer Christo to someone with an answer, “The caller got frustrated and hung up.”
Meanwhile, the fish continues to hang outside on each sunny day, attracting flies and producing a nauseating odor, neighbors said.
“It’s disgusting,” said Jennifer Schaun, 42. “It’s just not sanitary and brings in bugs.”
Another resident agreed, saying the block, which is predominantly inhabited by Chinese immigrants, is becoming like a fish market.
“I saw a man the other day hitting the fish with a fly swatter to keep the bugs off,” said Melanie Handovich, 41. “It looks like dead garbage, and sometimes the whole block stinks like fish.”
No one was home Thursday at the residence of the family that hung the fish.