City Limits
"Mohamed Attia, director of the Street Vendor Project, said increased enforcement threatens vendors’ livelihoods, both in the costs of the fines themselves, which can run as much as $1,000, and the disruptions to their workday. “That impacts their lives,” Attia said."New York Times
"The city has for years capped the number of mobile food vending permits at 2,900...“Everybody operating without one of these permits is sadly considered a criminal and being treated as one by the N.Y.P.D. and by the other agencies,” said Mohamed Attia, managing director of the Street Vendor Project."Newsdesk
'"Various community organizations have come together to host a Three Kings Day giveaway on Thursday, January 6 at Corona Plaza for the second year in a row. Organizations like QEDC, Queens Museum, the Street Vendor Project and other organizations graced the party with this event, while also hoping to slowly revamp Corona Plaza.”City Limits
Street vendor advocates have noticed the recent uptick in the number of tickets. “Drawing a ticket helps nobody,” says Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, deputy director of the Street Vendor Project.Next City
“Some would move, others wouldn’t,” Vivar says. “Trash was being left out, people were fighting among each other. We started going around to talk to people about the Street Vendor Project, about what was going on. One day I had proposed a meeting and we talked to three or four other longtime vendors and brought everyone together.”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.Yahoo News
The Urban Justice Center, a nonprofit organization that supports New York’s marginalized groups through advocacy and legal representation, has been actively helping street food vendors get back on their feet while also feeding the hungry through its Street Vendor Project.© 2023 Urban Justice Center | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
