NYC shifts street vendor oversight from police to consumer agency

Street vendors will now be under the jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protections. Eagle file photo by Alex Williamson

By Rachel Vick

New York City police officers are no longer tasked with enforcing street vendor regulations as of Friday, the culmination of a movement to limit police oversight fueled by a viral video of officers arresting an immigrant churro saleswoman in 2019.

The Department of Consumer and Worker Protections, formerly the Department of Consumer Affairs, will now enforce street vending rules for 20,000 salespeople across the city. The shift will allow the police to focus on fighting crime, not citing piragua sellers, said Mayor Bill de Blasio in June 2020.

"Our officers must be able to focus on the real drivers of crime," de Blasio said while discussing the new oversight proposal. "Having the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection coordinating the city's vending policy and enforcement efforts strikes the right balance as we rethink how law enforcement resources are used in our city.”

The plan became official in December 2020 and took effect Friday, more than a year after video of the churro seller’s arrest inside a Brooklyn subway station galvanized lawmakers and everyday New Yorkers, and six months after de Blasio initially announced that cops would stop ticketing vendors.

The Street Vendor Project, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of the largely immigrant workforce, tweeted their support for the new policy.

“What does today's shift to a civilian agency regulating vending mean?” the organization wrote.  “Vendors can serve NYC without fear of arrest by officers [with] guns.”

The Street Vendor Project is also urging the city to reallocate funds earmarked for enforcement to instead pay for compliance training, education and small business services for vendors. 

Some state lawmakers have backed legislation to issue more vendor licenses and reduce the number of people selling food without a permit.

A stalled city council bill would also increase permits, adjust enforcement and establish a vendor advisory board.

Street vendors, “have always been and will always be an important part of NYC’s culture and economy,” the Street Vendor Project said.  “Decriminalization is long overdue. It's time to codify the shift to civilian enforcement to ensure this change sticks.”