Mayor puts Sanitation Dept. in charge of street vendor enforcement
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Mayor Eric Adams announced last week that enforcement of illegal vending will be turned over to the Sanitation Department. File photo by Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office
By Ryan Schwach
In the same week that Queens Councilmember Sandra Ung called for an increase in enforcement of street vendors in her busy Flushing district, Mayor Eric Adams decided to change the city agency responsible for that enforcement.
The mayor announced last week that the enforcement of illegal street vendors will be transferred over from the Department of Consumer and Worker protection over to the Sanitation Department.
“Street vendors are a vital part of New York City’s economic and cultural landscape, but unregulated street vending is a quality-of-life concern that affects the health, safety, accessibility, prosperity, and cleanliness of our streets, sidewalks, and neighborhoods,” Adams said in a statement.
“New York City has the world's greatest Sanitation Department, and there is no challenge too great for ‘New York’s Strongest,’” the mayor added. “With DSNY becoming responsible for enforcing regulations around street vending, New Yorkers will enjoy improved quality of life, more accessible and cleaner streets, and a more welcoming city across all five boroughs."
The regulation responsibilities will pass over on April 1, and will be managed by a vending bureau, according to City Hall.
DSNY will only take over the enforcement of street vendors, DCWP will still deal with vendor licensing, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will continue to inspect the vendors.
Ung, who represents a portion of North Queens including Flushing, recently called for an increase in vending enforcement around the busy Main Street area in Downtown Flushing which she argued has created safety risks and has harmed local brick and mortar businesses.
“Over the past year, I have worked closely with DCWP and the Administration, who have continuously conducted outreach to unlicensed vendors regarding rules and regulations in Flushing," Ung said in a statement. "Unfortunately, congested sidewalks and sanitation issues in Flushing have continued to pose a danger to our senior and mobility impaired neighbors who found it a challenge to even walk to the grocery store or their doctor's office or wait for the bus due to the numerous vendors blocking sidewalks.”
Ung supports the mayor’s move and says it can benefit the enforcement of vendors.
“I am pleased that Mayor Eric Adams listened to my concerns,” she said. “I am confident the uniformed officers of DSNY, with their additional manpower, resources and expertise in this type of enforcement, will be able to address the proliferation of street vendors."
“I am optimistic that we are finally moving toward a permanent solution to this issue,” she added.
A petition from Ung’s office to call for enforcement of the Flushing no-vending zone currently has over 700 signatures according to her office.
The Street Vendors Project, an advocacy group for vendors as part of the Urban Justice Center, expressed their dismay with the enforcement change. The advocacy group has long argued that many of the vendors who get pinned by the city’s enforcement would not have sold items illegally if it were easier to obtain licensing.
“We are disappointed to see that once again, our City is fast to move on creating more enforcement for street vendors - yet fails to reform the unjust and arcane regulatory system, and provide opportunities for our city’s smallest businesses to thrive,” the project said in a statement. “Vendors provide affordable lunch, fresh fruits to underserved neighborhoods, and souvenirs to tourists, and are critical to the soul of our city. The Department of Sanitation collects, recycles, and disposes of our City’s waste. Small businesses run by immigrants, veterans, and low-income New Yorkers are not trash.”
“Enforcement can only be successful when the laws and rules are fair,” they added. “Vendors want to comply with the law, yet the decades-old limit on licenses and permits as well as overly burdensome sidewalk placement rules make it nearly impossible.”
