We Need More Volunteers! Interested in social justice? Help the Street Vendor Project as a volunteer.
Vendor Voices Listen to the voices of real vendors speaking out about their everyday conditions and concerns.
Stop the Illegal Increase of Fines! Read about the Project's activism to stop the creeping rise of fines against streetvendors. Find out what you can do. NEW! Watch the short slideshow we prepared to highlight this problem.
After two years of advocacy, SVP is about to win a huge victory: translators at vendor court. We testified at a City Council hearing last week on Intro 777, the ECB reform bill which will, among other things, require the ECB to provide interpreters for vendors and other small business owners who don't speak English (see photos of SVP board members Cheikh Fall and Teresa Gonzales with Council Speaker Quinn at the press conference, left). The bill seems sure to pass. It will prevent this kind of travesty of justice that happens when a non-English speaking vendor tries to argue his case in court. If it wasn't so sad (Munnu Dewan was found guilty and ordered to pay $300), it would have made a good comedy sketch.
Remember the “Save Tony” campaign? Thanks to overwhelming support from the local community, we achieved victory for Tony! We received over 1600 signatures opposing revocation of Tony’s license. The hearing was dismissed in place of a settlement. Tony’s license will be suspended only for a month but his cart can still operate. In addition, Tony will be taking a 16 hour food safety course and has to pay over $8000 to pay in fines. However, he is happy with the settlement: “I haven’t slept in a month, I’m happy that this turned out to be a success and I’m grateful to all my customers who came out to show their support.” You can read more about our victory in the New York Observer, the Daily News and NY1.
Except for the famous Joe Ades (left) old-fashioned street hawkers are a rare sight these days. Vociferous vendors, also called "barkers" or "criers," were once commonplace in NYC, at least until the 1939 "passersby law" outlawed this type of behavior. Luckily, artist Annie Lanzillotto has made a special study of the music of the streets. She recently appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio, and we highly recommend listening to the show, entitled "Street Cries from Around the World." Annie will be performing a vendor-related piece at this year's Vendy Awards.
Its interesting to look at different "quality of life" offenses and how enforcement against them varies. NYC law makes it illegal for vehicles to idle their engines for more than 3 minutes -- idling is a huge source of pollution. Yet there were only 550 tickets written for idling last year in NYC -- although its easier to find an idling town car in midtown than a bagel & cream cheese. About the same number are written for unncecessary horn honking, the bane of many citydwellers' existence. Nearly 800 summonses were written for failing to clean up after your dog, which carries a fine of only $100, much to the dismay of these Gothamist commentors. Vendors, on the other hand, which few New Yorkers would consider a "quality of life" offense, receive about 60,000 tickets every year.
People sometimes laugh when we tell them that the NYPD still has an official "Peddler Squad" that roams the city stamping out all vendor infractions. The old-fashioned term "peddler" has a nice ring to it, until you realize that it only used today in a derogatory manner by people who want to remove vendors from the streets. Like here and here. Are we being too politically correct? Or should we request the NYPD to change the name of their infamous squad? At very least they should update their Patrol Guide entry.
By all accounts, Los Angeles is the second most important vending city in the U.S. of A. But you would think those progressive Californians would have learned from NYC's mistakes. Instead, they are cracking down on their famous taco trucks and throwing vendors in jail for selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs. This video will blow you away: thanks to Mike at Reason TV for sending it along. This bacon-dog fiasco is virtually exactly what happened with knishes (our own trademark street cuisine) in New York a few years ago. Just what are all these health inspectors "protecting" us from?
Six Cedar Street vendors (left) spoke eloquently against their pending eviction at last night's Community Board 1 meeting. And they scored at least a partial victory! The Board approved the Greenmarket but "strongly urged" that it be moved to the north side of the plaza, where it will not displace the vendors. Read the resolution here. The Greenmarket itself wants to be on the north side, and the Department of Transportation wants them there, too. The problem? Brookfield properties, one of the largest commercial real estate companies in North America.
Yes, illegal vending happens every day in NYC, in broad daylight, and the police do nothing about it. Only the perps are not who you might think. Corporate and government entities have found that they can make a quick buck selling their merchandise on our city streets. License? Who needs one! A quick walk to Grand Central and Ground Zero today found that this practice is quite widespread. Click here to see photos of the criminals at work. Please send along other examples you may find.
The NY Times magazine had a big article this weekend about how celebrities can be effective advocates for social causes. Know any celebs who would be willing to stand up for vendors' rights? Shouldn't be so hard; Brangelina was spotting chomping down hot dogs last summer, and Sarah Jessica Parker famously declared that she would "eat anything off a cart." And Jerry Seinfeld was even a vendor himself after college. If Natalie Portman really supports micro-businesses, maybe she'll be a judge for this year's Vendy Awards. Get in touch, Natalie!
Anyone want to curate a photo exhibit about vendors? The starting point should be this excellent work by Jocelyn Baun, (click on portfolios/street food), whose photos scream "authentic New York City" like few we have seen. They are up at Cafe Sutra in the South Slope through the end of February, and Jocelyn is going to be working with SVP in 2008 to take photos of our members, so keep an eye out for more. At least it should be warm inside the cafe: its cold out there for vendors, as AM New York noted yesterday with some interesting profiles.
After two years of advocacy, SVP is about to win a huge victory: translators at vendor court. We testified at a City Council hearing last week on 
Except for the famous 
Its interesting to look at different "quality of life" offenses and how enforcement against them varies. NYC law makes it illegal for vehicles to idle their engines for more than 3 minutes -- idling is a 
People sometimes laugh when we tell them that the NYPD still has an official "Peddler Squad" that roams the city stamping out all vendor infractions. The old-fashioned term "peddler" has a nice ring to it, until you realize that it only used today in a derogatory manner by people who want to remove vendors from the streets. Like 
By all accounts, Los Angeles is the second most important vending city in the U.S. of A. But you would think those progressive Californians would have learned from NYC's mistakes. Instead, they are cracking down on their famous 
Six Cedar Street vendors (left) 
Yes, illegal vending happens every day in NYC, in broad daylight, and the police do nothing about it. Only the perps are not who you might think. Corporate and government entities have found that they can make a quick buck selling their merchandise on our city streets. License? Who needs one! A quick walk to Grand Central and Ground Zero today found that this practice is quite widespread. Click 
The NY Times magazine had a 
Anyone want to curate a photo exhibit about vendors? The starting point should be this excellent work by 