Owners of brick-and-mortar businesses, street vendors and government officials were in rare agreement during a City Council hearing on Wednesday, with all voicing support for bills that would ban vending on bike lanes, limit vending on bridges and give vendors more flexibility in how they display their goods.
Erin Piscopink, co-chair of the NYC Business Improvement District Association, said her group also generally supports the “decriminalization of [unlicensed] street vending,” as provided for in another pending measure. Some brick-and-mortar businesses have opposed any loosening of restrictions.
But advocates for stores and vendors clashed over other bills aimed at making it easier for vendors to do business. That includes bills that would change vending location rules to allow more space from the curb, and another — notably, left off the hearing docket — bill that would remove a decades-old cap on the city’s highly coveted and limited vending licenses and permits.
The NYC Bid Association called the latter “premature at best,” saying in written testimony that stronger vending enforcement and location rules are still necessary. Councilmember Pierina Sanchez said the association’s stance “offended” her.
“A lot of work has to be done on this issue, and as we’ve seen almost close to a decade, there has been no improvements, or very little improvements, to actually expanding our permits and licensing,” said Sanchez, a Democrat from the Bronx, one of the Council leaders pushing the changes.
The exchange underscores the long-running debate over street vending in the city, with store merchants, vendors, politicians, and different-minded advocacy groups all weighing in. It comes in the midst of several high-profile crackdowns on unlicensed vendors, including in Corona Plaza, Sunset Park, and most recently, Grand Army Plaza.
Some of the bills highlighted in the public hearing were introduced last week as part of a sweeping package of bills aimed at transforming the city’s vending laws and bringing more off-the-books vendors into good standing under the law. An estimated 20,000 vendors do business in the city.
Another bill, from Councilmember Shekar Krishan, a Queens Democrat, would eliminate criminal penalties for breaking vending laws. Only civil penalties would apply. Violators now face a misdemeanor charge, a $150 fine and jail time. The bill would reduce the maximum punishment to a summons and cap fines at $1,000.
Another bill, from Councilmember Carmen de la Rosa, a Democrat from northern Manhattan, would allow food carts to be located within 2 feet from the curb. Under current law, street vendors’ carts must also abut the curb, which advocates say endangers’ their safety by situating them close to oncoming traffic. Under de la Rosa’s bill, when that pathway is obstructed — by, for example, a planter — vendors would be able to place their units as close as possible.
Piscopink, however, said she was concerned with the lack of definition of “obstruction” under the bill, and the possibility of overcrowding.
“We believe that this significant change without consideration of clear path requirements, visual clutter, and the usability of street furniture would be unwise,” Piscopink said.
The hearing also comes as New York City is experiencing a street vending boom, according to advocates and local Council members. They say many workers turned to vending in the pandemic, and stuck with it. Meanwhile, some of the thousands of new migrants flocking to the city have turned to vending as well.
A 2015 study by the Institute for Justice estimated that there were about 20,000 vendors in the city. The majority of the city’s vendors are operating without required permits and licenses, according to the Street Vendor Project.
The bills could come up for votes this year. Otherwise, they will have to be re-introduced next year..
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