About Us

Our organization advocates for the rights of street vendors in NYC.

The Street Vendor Project is a membership-based project with more than 2,000 vendor members who are working together to create a vendors’ movement for permanent change

Overview

There are more than 10,000 street vendors in New York City — hot dog vendors, flower vendors, book vendors, street artists, and many others. They are small business people struggling to make ends meet. Most are immigrants and people of color. They work long hours under harsh conditions, asking for nothing more than a chance to sell their goods on the public sidewalk. Yet, in recent years, vendors have been victims of New York’s aggressive “quality of life” crackdown. They have been denied access to vending licenses. Many streets have been closed to them at the urging of powerful business groups. They receive $1,000 tickets for minor violations like vending too close to a crosswalk — more than any big businesses are required to pay for similar violations.

Business groups concerned with gentrification have joined forces with city officials and police to bar vendors from certain streets and regulate them excessively. Many of these vendors, mostly immigrants, have been working their carts for decades. We stand up for vendor’s rights so they can make an honest living without being harassed.