Trash or donation is a matter of perspective on Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights, where concerned residents told News 12 that stacks of boxes piled high with vegetables, many of them rotting, has been sitting out since at least Oct. 10.

The pile, spanning the length of the street heading toward Eastern Parkway, is in front of the Chabad Lubovtich Oeshel Center. Members of the center told News 12 that the pile was a donation for the hungry in the community to take as they needed.

The center did not respond to News 12’s request for comment.

Residents in the area like Miguel, and others who asked not to be identified, told News 12 that they have been going to the pile to get fresh vegetables often, and it's helped them to make ends meet.

"You can get tomatoes, peppers for free to take home…It helps a lot, " he said proudly showing the camera multiple ripe looking vegetables.

The Department of Sanitation told News 12 they will be cleaning the area – composting what is going bad and moving the food that could be donated to a separate location after inspection. DSNY says it will look into if the pile fits the definition of illegal dumping.

“The city maintains a food donation portal called DonateNYC that can be used to facilitate these kinds of large-scale donations, in addition to coordinating with the recipient directly. Whatever the intentions, simply leaving pallets of food on the street is not sanitary or productive,” DSNY said in a statement to News 12.