Street Vendors- Main Page

The image of vendors standing by their pushcarts and tables, selling

everything from hot dogs to handbags, is as familiar to New Yorkers as the subway

system. Today there are over 10,000 street vendors in New York City, but this number

does not begin to describe the significant role they play in shaping the city’s culture and lifestyle.

A General History

Street vending began in New York as early as 1691 when pushcart peddlers were first regulated. It emerged as an attractive occupation for new immigrants who had little money and few opportunities to find other jobs. Vending enabled them to achieve financial stability while they struggled to find their footing in a new world. Before long, selling food and general items on the streets became so popular that by the turn of the century, there were more than 25,000 vendors in Manhattan alone.

Street vending allows immigrants who possess little money and face language barriers to sell goods in

HOME STREET VENDORS: A GENERAL HISTORY REFERENCES

CHINESE STREET VENDORS RUSSIAN STREET VENDORS

The Street Vendor Project (SVP) is working to fight against the injustices that vendors face on the streets. The organization is trying to make vendors aware of their own presence in the city by encouraging them to work together to achieve change. The SVP is also reaching out to people to make them aware of the vital role that vendors place in society, both economically and socially as a visible representation of the diversity that exists in New York City.

The SVP holds clinics and workshops to educate vendors about their legal rights in order to engage them to participate in the political process.

The SVP supplies materials and information to help vendors understand and navigate the intricate system of vending laws and restrictions.

The SVP has been engaged in numerous legal activities aimed at helping vendors who are struggling because of thee city’s fines and harassment.

Membership in the SVP gives vendors a sense of protection, power and pride that they cannot find alone.

“The increased diversity of today’s street vendors reflects the changes in New York’s cultural environment.”

Laws and Regulations

In recent years, an effort to “clean-up” city streets and reduce traffic congestion has made it increasingly hard for immigrants to earn a living because of the increased restrictions placed on street vending.

Street vendors fall into four separate categories, each with its own set of restrictions. These include: vendors of general merchandise, food vendors, disabled veteran vendors, and vendors protected by the first amendment.

In 1979 the city kept the number of licenses distributed to general vendors at 853, which makes it nearly impossible for anyone to become a general vendor today.

Although food vendors do not face a restriction on the number of licenses issued, there is a cap of 3,000 push cart permits, which many vendors need in order to sell their goods.

In July 2005, the city adopted a schedule of fines that begin at $50 for first offense and escalate to $100, $250, $500, $750, and $1,000 for subsequent offenses within 2 years.

“The most exciting thing is seeing the momentum of this movement, making vendors aware of themselves as a population that could have some power.”

- Shawn Basinski, Director of the SVP

NY Times, Nov. 5, 2004

The Street Vendor Project

ethnic neighborhoods where they are most comfortable. In the past, almost all vendors were of Jewish and

Italian descent, however, according to a study conducted by the

Street Vendor Project during 2004 and 2005, today’s vendors come

from more than 20 countries. The organization interviewed 100 street

vendors and discovered that the largest percentage of immigrants hail from Bangladesh, China and Afghanistan. The increased diversity of today’s street vendors reflects the changes in New York’s cultural environment.