Queens electeds slam de Blasio’s vendor crackdown

Street vendor supporters are speaking out against an NYPD shutdown of vendors in the Bronx last week. Photo Courtesy of Urban Justice Center

Dozens of lawmakers and advocates released a letter to city officials including Mayor Bill de Blasio demanding the immediate removal of NYPD presence in street vending enforcement after officers shut down a group of unlicensed vendors in the Bronx on Wednesday.
They say the action goes directly against de Blasio’s 2020 decision to move vendor oversight from the agency to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protections as struggling vendors wait for new permits to be released.

“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,” the letter reads. “How can you honor vendors as essential workers in the Hometown Heroes Parade, and now send officers to harass them for providing an essential service?”

The letter signed by State Sen. Jessica Ramos, Assemblymembers Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Khaleel Anderson and Catalina Cruz, and Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer suggests that instead of policing vendors city agencies should be supporting the entrepreneurial spirit.

When asked about the collection of vendors on the Brian Lehrer Show Friday, de Blasio said he respects that people are trying to start a business “but I also need everyone to follow the rules, and it's a big, crowded city. We've got to be clear about the challenges faced when vending isn't done the right way.”

He maintained that NYPD is only dispatched if vendors do not comply.

Throughout the past year, advocates have called for an end to fines and argue that the continued criminalization of vending while residents struggle to make ends meet as the pandemic wears on is just another way to criminalize poverty.

“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.

In January, City Council voted on a bill to expand the number of available permits for vendors, which had not been updated since the turn of the century, and establish a street vendor advisory board. It was returned unsigned by the mayor in March.

“Street vendors have been the lifeline of the city during the pandemic — they have fed us, sold PPE to us and what happened was unconscionable,” Gonzalez-Rojas, who represents Jackson Heights and Elmhurst in the state legislature, said.

“We're enforcing a system that has forced our vendors to go underground,” she added. “We shouldn't think of it as a problem, we should look at it as an opportunity… to work with them, teach them how to get licensing and offer technical support, not punish them.”