NYC Officials Back More Street Vendor Permits, But Resist Lifting Longtime Cap

For decades the number of street vendors has far exceeded the number of permits that allow them to legally set up shop on New York City streets A City Council bill wants to change that Street vendors and advocates attending the City Council s hearing on permitting reforms Wednesday Alex Krales NYC Council Media Unit For decades the number of street vendors has far exceeded the number of permits that allow them to legally set up shop on New York City streets In the City Council passed Local Law which aimed to increase the number of food vendor permits by per year starting in However only new permits have been given to vendors so far disclosed Corinne Schiff deputy commissioner for environmental soundness at the Department of Physical condition and Mental Hygiene DOHMH during a Council hearing Tuesday The New York City Council heard testimony about a package of bills to amendment the process including one that would increase the number of permits by each year for five consecutive years and then lift the cap altogether Another bill would decriminalize vending offenses Int and a third would create a division of street vendors assistance within the Department of Small Business Services Int Right off the bat officers from Department of Consumer and Worker Protection DCWP Department of Sanitation DSNY DOHMH and Department of Small Business Services SBS weighed in on the possibility of increasing the number of permits which they saw as viable But agency authorities did not sponsorship lifting the cap on the number of licenses altogether the second part of the bill that Bronx Councilmember Pierina Sanchez introduced The New York City Vitality Department has no concerns about issuing more supervisory license applications annually than local law presently requires and would like to work with the City Council on particular of the details to ease implementation noted Corinne Schiff DOHMH deputy commissioner for the environmental wellness division However she added the administration is opposed to lifting the cap entirely One of the first attempts a person must take to prepare or serve food for vending is to obtain a vending license with the DOHMH The second step is to obtain a permit the number of which has been capped for decades leading plenty of vendors to seek them on the black field often paying exorbitant prices During the hearing Schiff argued that eliminating the cap would increase the department s workload on mandatory food safety training inspections issuance of licenses and permits while requiring more funding Carlos Ortiz DCWP s deputy commissioner for external affairs offered another argument as to why the cap should not be lifted Impact on quality of life During Tuesday s hearing representatives from the city s Business Improvement Districts or BIDs which represent brick-and-mortar businesses and often view street vendors as competition testified against the bill and doubled down on the need for more enforcement The issue of how various licenses you wanna give is irrelevant to the Garment District noted Barbara Blair president of the Garment District Alliance a BID in Midtown Manhattan What is relevant is regulating time place and manner that are enforceable rules that are enforceable and are in fact vigorously enforced The city already regulates where and when street vendors can operate like only on sidewalks that are at least feet wide and particular permits only work seasonally among other rules Enforcement responsibilities primarily fall to the DSNY which took the lead on enforcement of the city s vendors in But since the New York City Police Department NYPD has led in issuing the greatest number of tickets to vendors In alone these agencies issued over tickets to city vendors and seized tons of food Julie Menin chair of the Council s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection pressed DOHMH representatives about why majority of of those who ve obtained supervisory licenses since Local Law was passed did not yet have supervisory permits We don t know the answer to that Schiff mentioned The local law doesn t have a deadline to apply for the permit and so they may eventually turn into permits Mahmoud Zayed a street vendor since declared he has rented a permit through the black territory for years as I have never been able to obtain one in my own name I have been forced to pay thousands of dollars every two years to people who were able to get permits directly from the city while they only pay a small fee he added During the more than six-hour hearing more than people testified including dozens of street vendors but also brick-and-mortar owners investors content creators and the general populace The vast majority of speakers supported the bill Proponents say street vending a largely immigrant-powered sector is often one of sparse options for people trying to earn a living in an increasingly expensive city Protections are even more key now as immigrants are being targeted for arrest and deportation under the Trump administration After the hearing Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez deputy director of the Street Vendor Project disclosed it was encouraging to see the administration calling for expanding the total number of vending permits The fight for reforming the street vending system in New York has reliably been urgent but especially under this current federal administration it s essential Kaufman-Gutierrez revealed To reach the reporter behind this story contact Daniel citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint procedures here The post NYC Leaders Back More Street Vendor Permits But Resist Lifting Longtime Cap appeared first on City Limits