Corona Plaza vendors unite
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Vendors in Corona Plaza joined forces to formally create a group that would vie for their interests. Photo by Pedro Cruz courtesy of SVP
The merchants who frequent Corona Plaza voted this week to form a vendors association, the Street Vendor Project announced.
Members of the newly formed Corona Plaza Vendors Association developed a map of their placements and established community agreements to take charge of the space they frequent.
“There is a great need for investment to make the plaza as best as it can be - but with vendors who both live and work in the former epicenter working together, the possibilities are endless,” the Street Vendor Project said on social media. “City planning is at its best when communities are leading the way!”
About 100 people signed the agreement formalizing the group, which will act as advocates and organizers for the nearly 90 merchant groups that set up in the plaza. There were also four individuals elected as representatives to act as the points of contact for elected officials or other conflicts within the group.
The Street Vendor Project has been working with the local vendors for years, but efforts to create an association ramped up with the growth in numbers amid pandemic hardships,
Monthly meetings to organize the vendors began in 2021.
Since then, monthly meetings have operated as a space for vendors to express needs, check in with community agreements like organizing cleanups, or for setting up new vendors looking to operate in the plaza.
“Vendors [wanted] to come together and self-organize solutions for some of the problems
in terms of where vendors set up, education to make sure they are aware of rules and regulations and make sure everyone works together as a team,” said Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, the deputy director of the Street Vendor Project.
Last year, the city ramped up NYPD sweeps of places like Corona Plaza, where some unlicensed vendors sell goods.
“Part of the power of organizing the association is to find a way to formalize the market because the way it is now… if there was a sweep of fines most would be forced to close up,” she added.
“Part of the work is to ensure stability and support because these are some of the smallest businesses especially in Corona [and] this is how people are working to find stability for their families, contribute to the economy or grow a business.”
The Queens Economic Development Corporation is doing similar work with the brick and mortar businesses in the plaza to improve communication between the groups.
