Street Food With Empty Streets: NYC's Vendors Fight To Survive

NEW YORK, NY — A few weeks ago, Ahmed Shaker's workers would bring in $600 a day — $1,000 on a good day — selling hot dogs, pretzels and shish kebab from their cart in Times Square.

On Tuesday, a 12 hour shift didn't even crack $20.

"I'm about to shut it down," Shaker told Patch. "There is nothing. Nobody is out."

Shaker is one of the thousands of New York City street vendors who are facing a near impossible task in the new coronavirus pandemic — how to make a living selling street food when everyone is mandated to stay at home.

More than 2,000 of those vendors could be helped, though, with a fundraiser by the Street Vendor Project which aims to bring in enough money to give $200 "relief payments" to as many of their members as possible. The GoFundMe had raised nearly $25,000 of its $60,000 goal as of Wednesday.

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The payments would especially help low-wage immigrant workers, who make up 90 percent of the Street Vendor Project's members and who are not eligible for government support like paid sick leave, unemployment insurance or most loans, according to the organization.

Some, like Shaker, have been forced to close up shop, despite the fact that it will mean no money coming in for the indefinite future.

The Times Square vendor said he originally stayed open as long as possible so his 10 employees would have a source of income, but decided to close Tuesday afternoon. He relies on day-to-day sales and does not have a back-up savings, Shaker said.

"I don't know how we're going to make it," he said. "I don't know."

Others, like an East 14th Street fruit stand owner named Mustafa, have opted to stay open even with the plummeting sales, not to mention the risk to their own health.

Mustafa is high risk for contracting COVID-19 given that he recently battled cancer, but told the Street Vendor Project that he will continue working to support his family.

"Your contribution will directly support Mustafa and Hulya being able to stay home and safe," the organization, which is part of the Urban Justice Center, wrote. "We take care of each other"

The relief payments are also a way to let the city's vendors know that New Yorkers are still thinking of them.

Shady Qandiel, who works at a commissary stand in Queens, said the empty shop he was forced to close two weeks ago had him thinking "nobody cares about us."

"We have families, we have rents," Qandiel said. "I hope we get a solution for people who work in these kinds [of places]. We don’t have another source of money."

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