Akm Shehabuddin Kisslu: New York City’s Street vendors and allies marched to City Hall demanding dignity and more protections. The Street vendors rallied in and Lower Manhattan marched through the streets reaching the City Hall on Thursday. They want to overhaul the system, which they say is outdated and often forces them to buy permits on the underground market. Organizers say the city has only issued 5,000 food vendor permits.
The Street Vendor Project is advocating for roughly 20,000 street food vendors and merchandise sellers. The organization says the march follows a summer of record-breaking fines and being treated like criminals.
“We want to make sure everything is formalized, all the vendors can access the right licenses and permits from the city to make sure that people are formalizing the business and not dealing with the underground market and not being treated as criminals,” said Mohamed Attia, managing director of the Street Vendor Project.
The group says roughly 90% of vendors are immigrants.They want the same protections that other small businesses receive.
Vendors from across the five boroughs, elected officials, and allied organizations want an end to what they say is unjust enforcement.
“They are not criminals, they are hard-working people looking for dignity and looking for the legalization of their businesses,” said New York State Sen. Jessica Ramos.
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The Street Vendor Project says only about a quarter of the operators have proper permits.
