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"We want licenses, not lies!" was the rallying cry last week as 150 SVP members powerfully marched to the Licensing Center to demand access to permits amid an intensifying NYPD crackdown in Queens, and an increase in vending enforcement in The Bronx, where one in three families live below the poverty line.
In just over 24 hours, vendors from across the five boroughs came together todispel the licensing myth that the NYPD, Department of Sanitation, and several Council Members have been spreading to justify brutal enforcement against them, claiming that vendors can access licenses and simply choose not to get one. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We went inside the DCWP Licensing Center with news cameras to demonstrate just how impossible the system is, just to hear from a Licensing Deputy Commissioner tell a vendor he can't get on a waitlist.
Street vendors across New York City share the same dream—the opportunity to support their families and upward economic mobility. But that dream has become a nightmare. New York City's governance of street vending is broken, and it is time we fix it.
We're calling on our City to invest in services and education for street vendors, rather than the punitive enforcement that destabilizes working families and pushes them into debt.
Led by Council Members Sanchez, Farías, De La Rosa, and Krishnan and the Public Advocate, the Street Vendor Reform Legislative Package puts forth a clear vision for a functional street vending system, that allows vendors to provide the services New Yorkers want — in a regulated, predictable, enforceable system — giving these small businesses a real chance to build wealth in their neighborhoods. Sign on now to show your support!
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