NY Daily News

Can you do the impossible? If not, you should not survive, or even exist! That’s what the city is effectively saying to street vendors with its decision to send the NYPD to force street vendors to close in the Bronx, the borough with the highest unemployment rate of any county in the state last year. Hundreds of fellow New Yorkers have turned to street vending to survive the past year, becoming entrepreneurs in a difficult time. Street vendors are primarily immigrants, people of color, military veterans — exactly the New Yorkers who need our city’s support right now.

Bronx Times

For too long, street vendors have been treated like criminals by police, when in reality these are small businesses run primarily by immigrants, women and people of color, that feed our communities, contribute to the local economy, and enrich the culture of our city. Like other small businesses, vendors have been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are appalled by your decision to send the New York Police Department to harass the hard working entrepreneurs on Fordham Road on Wednesday, July 21,

Queens Daily Eagle

“Street vendors have long played an important role in our city, yet a broken vending system has forced most to operate without a license, then criminalized them for trying to make a living,” the Street Vendor Project, who signed onto the letter, tweeted.

Gothamist

According to the Street Vending Project, active general street vendor permits are capped at 853 for all five boroughs. That number has been in place since the 1980s, and the waiting list is comprised of thousands of prospective vendors. While there is no cap in the number of food vending permits, the only way to obtain a license is through an online course that's made available only in English, effectively cutting out non-English speaking New Yorkers hoping to get a permit.