My name is Cesar, and I sellcellular accessories in Wash-ington Heights. I came to theUS in 1969, when I was 18and the political situation inthe Dominican Republicstarted to get worse. In mycountry, I was involved infarming. My father had hisown farm, and I often helpedhim with his business. At thesame time, I had developedan interest in political activ-ism.I enrolled at the NewYork Technical College toreceive a degree in Environ-mental Nursery, and I waslooking for a way to pay formy education. As a result Ibecame a cab driver. For
MemberProfile:CesarAbreu
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is when I became a street ven-dor.I still remember my firstday as a vendor, three yearsago. I knew a Peruvian guywho sold elec-tric drills inthe neighbor-hood. Heseemed to bedoing ratherwell, so I de-cided to fol-low his exam-ple. I got twoboxes of drills, set up atable on thesidewalk, andwas waitingfor a first cus-thirteen years I drove aroundNew York, which allowed meto learn a lot about the city.After being a driver, Iworked at a tree nursery inLong Island forseven years.That job I par-ticularly enjoyed:I felt as if I wasgoing back to myroots, especiallysince I was onceagain doing whatmy father haddevoted himself to. However, at acertain point Irealized that Iwanted to havemore independence. Thattomer. Before I had anythingsold, police came over and ar-rested me for vending illegallyin the streets. After fourteenhours in Criminal Court andone day of community service,I was finally able to go back home.I like being a vendor. Itgives me a certain freedom andindependence that other jobsfailed to provide me with. I canwork for as many hours as Iwant; my schedule is alwaysflexible. Most importantly, Ihave more time to spend withmy family, especially with mygranddaughter. I have been amember of the Project since the
beginning, and I’m very proud
of what we are doing.
LegislativeReform:Update
Vendor Arrested at Wendy’s
Photo: PaulMargolis
When handbag vendorMohamend Ali ordered a spicy
chicken sandwich from Wendy’s
one afternoon in November, hedid not expect to be arrested forunlicensed vending and insultedwith racist slurs by two policeofficers. He expected to get achicken sandwich.He had just turned awayfrom the counter when he sawcourt, and Ali has filed a CCRBcomplaint against the officers. Inthe meantime, with help fromSVP, and after three days of run-ning from precinct to precinct(and being told he could nothave it back), Ali and his mer-chandise were happily reunitedoutside the police warehouse in
Queens. “Vendor power,” said
Mohamend Ali.through the window the officersrummaging through his merchan-dise, which he had left neatly bun-dled on the sidewalk outside. WhenAli went to investigate, the policearrested him, seized his goods, andused racist (to say the least) lan-guage, telling him he looked like a
monkey. “They don’t have the rightto say that,” says Ali, correctly.
The charges were dismissed at
Alirecovers his handbagsFrom one of oursponsors:
Despite a busy 2004, theSVP continues to seek thelegal reforms that are neces-sary to improve the lives of all street vendors.Our proposal, recentlyintroduced as the Street Ven-dor Opportunity Bill, will dofour things to benefit all seg-ments of the vending com-munity.First, it will remove thelicensing cap to give foodand general vendors an op-portunity to work legally.Vendors want licenses, andrather than arresting vendorslike criminals, the city shouldbring people into the system.Want to solve the problem of unlicensed vending? Give peo-ple licenses.Second, the bill will abolishthe Vendor Review Panel andopen up more streets by creat-ing an objective standard, as iscurrently used for newsstands,for determining which streetswill be closed to vending.Third, the bill will changethe oppressive 20 foot rule to10 feet when regular store-fronts are involved, openingup many more spaces forvending.Fourth, the bill will lowerthe maximum fines and takethe power to set fines awayfrom ECB, which has abusedthat power.We are currently in talkswith City Council membersabout this bill. Call to getinvolved with this process.
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