On a rainy Tuesday, over 100 street vendors gathered at City Hall to once again demand that the City finally start dispensing more permits to vendors, especially as they have seen a massive enforcement crackdown on their activities by the Adams administration.
The downpour on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday morning was illustrative of what New York City's street vendors, the heart of its informal economy, must deal with on a daily basis, they said. "For those of us who sell on the streets, we go out regardless of the weather, whether it's cold or hot, rainy or snowy, we are just ordinary people who run our small businesses, who work hard with our own hands to make a living and contribute to our community," said Helen He, an unlicensed merchandise vendor in Flushing, in remarks that were translated from Mandarin. "Criminal tickets have caused me extreme fear and depression. In order to drive us away, the police continue to give us criminal tickets, and we’re facing constant presence from the police who are dispatched once every hour."
The City Council may soon act. He and her fellow street vendors were there to support a set of bills known as the Street Vendor Reform Package, sponsored by Bronx Councilmember Pierina Sanchez. The bills, which finally had a hearing on Monday, a year and a half after they were introduced, in front of the council's Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection, would increase the number of permits made available each year, expand the City's outreach to vendors, and bar the NYPD from issuing criminal summonses for illegal vending. The lead bill for the legislative package is currently one cosponsor short of passage, with City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams yet to sign on as the pivotal vote—although it's possible that hoping for a boost in her mayoral run from immigrant communities, she might be compelled to back it.