VENDOR NEWSLETTER

Street Vendor Project Fall 2004

666 Broadway, 5th Floor (646) 602-5679
New York, NY 10012 or (646) 602-5681

Vendors Fight $1,000 Fines

though twe ’dn e ve rh avet hepowe rt obe a tthe
The street vending community scored a historic
citylik ethat.
”
Board of Advisors victory on September 28th, when Supreme Court
Within days of the dramatic victory, every
Mustapha Cisse Ju s
ticeCa rolEd me a dovertur nedt heCi ty ’s2003
Prokash Das Gupta
vendor with a $1,000 fine on his record had it
fine increase against vendors, finding the increase
Md. Anwar Hussain reduced to $250. Lower fines were also reduced
“ unreason able,unfa i
r,a n
dc le arlyund emoc rati
c”.
Mohammad El-Madaawy accordingly; the total reduction has been esti-
She reduced the fines, just days before many li-
Sophia Laskaris mated at $1 million.
Angelo Vega While bills were reduced, the city is refus-
Michael Wells ing to send refunds to vendors who already paid.
Jiean Weychu The matter is still in the courts. Hopefully, eve-
Janis Collado ryone who paid their fines will get refunds soon.
In the meantime, thanks to everyone for
Project Organizer
Judi Mukarhinda
coming to the courthouse. It was an unforgetta-
ble experience, and a few eyes must have gotten
Project Director tearywhe nt hej udges ai
dt hat“ whatthec ityd id
Sean Basinski does not facilitate access to what is sold every
day and on every commercial as the American
Volunteers drea m.Youc a n’tpu titou tt hereint hea ira nd
David Chang J
udg
eEd
mea
d“T
heys
eemp
ret
typ
owe
rf
ult
oda
y” notl ivebe hindi t.”Tr uerwo r dswe renev ers po-
Matt Furshong ken. Vendor power.
Sara Sluszka censes were about to expire, from a maximum of
Maxine Spencer $1,000 to a maximum of $250, and ordered the
Anna Tkacheva city not to deny licenses based on failure to pay
the illegal fines. Vendors packed the courtroom
What Next? Fine Update
and cheered as the judge delivered her verdict. Despite the court victory, the battle over the
The Street Vendor Project filed the lawsuit in $1,000 vending fines continues. On November
Augu st
,a f
terl earningt hatthec it
y’sfou r
fo l
df ine 18, the ECB held a hearing to gather public
INSIDE: input on the whether $1,000 fines should still
increase was done without publishing it in the
City Record or holding a public hearing, which be imposed. More than 130 vendors filled the
•Pr
ofi
l
e:Ces
arAbr
eu….
2 auditorium on Worth Street, and dozens of ven-
are required by law.
•GoodsRec
over
ed……2
dors spoke into the night about how the in-
The stars of the hearing were the vendors,
creased fines were unreasonable. As Amadou
•L
egi
sl
ati
veRef
orm ….
2 including the named plaintiffs, who all testified. Lam, a general vendor, reminded the panel,
Moussa Ousmane, a watch vendor downtown, “wedon’ tonlyhav ef inest opay ;wehav eki ds
• Memb
ers
hipI
nfo…….
3 testified about how the $1,000 fines were devas- tof eed.”
•Pl
ant
erCampai
gn.
..
….3 tating his ability to support his wife and eight Not one person spoke in favor of raising the
children. Antonia Delgado, who used to vend on fines. The great turnout was covered by NY
• Cent
ralPar
k….
.…….
..
4
Liberty Street, spoke of how the fear of fines was One, Channel 4, the Post, and the Daily News.
keeping her from working. Hot dog vendor Mo- After the hearing, the ECB voted to post-
hammed Ali spoke of how he received a $1,000 pone its decision until February, when it will
fine for having his license in his pocket instead of hold another hearing on the matter. Please call
around his neck. to help prepare for this hearing and spread the
After so many years of losing, some vendors word to other vendors. Despite our victory, we
we r
eno tsu reweh a dwon .Sa idCh ei
khCi sse,“I must continue this fight.
Page 2

Member Profile: Cesar Abreu

My name is Cesar, and I sell thirteen years I drove around is when I became a street ven- tomer. Before I had anything
cellular accessories in Wash- New York, which allowed me dor. sold, police came over and ar-
ington Heights. I came to the to learn a lot about the city. I still remember my first rested me for vending illegally
US in 1969, when I was 18 After being a driver, I day as a vendor, three years in the streets. After fourteen
and the political situation in worked at a tree nursery in ago. I knew a Peruvian guy hours in Criminal Court and
the Dominican Republic Long Island for who sold elec- one day of community service,
started to get worse. In my seven yea r s. tric drills in I was finally able to go back
country, I was involved in That job I par- the neighbor- home.
farming. My father had his ticularly enjoyed: hood. He I like being a vendor. It
own farm, and I often helped I felt as if I was seemed to be gives me a certain freedom and
him with his business. At the going back to my doing rather independence that other jobs
same time, I had developed roots, especially well, so I de- failed to provide me with. I can
an interest in political activ- since I was once cided to fol- work for as many hours as I
ism. again doing what low his exam- want; my schedule is always
I enrolled at the New my father had ple. I got two flexible. Most importantly, I
York Technical College to devoted himself box es of have more time to spend with
receive a degree in Environ- to. However, at a drills, set up a my family, especially with my
mental Nursery, and I was certain point I table on the granddaughter. I have been a
looking for a way to pay for realized that I sidewalk, and member of the Project since the
my education. As a result I wanted to have Photo: Paul Margolis was waiting b eginning ,andI ’
mv erypr oud
became a cab driver. For more independence. That for a first cus- of what we are doing.

V
end
orAr
Wh en h an dbag ven d or
Mohamend Ali ordered a spicy
chic kens a
ndwi c hfrom We ndy’s
one afternoon in November, he
did not expect to be arrested for
unlicensed vending and insulted
with racist slurs by two police
officers. He expected to get a
chicken sandwich.
He had just turned away
from the counter when he saw
Ali recovers his handbags
res
teda
tWe
ndy
’s
through the window the officers court, and Ali has filed a CCRB
rummaging through his merchan- complaint against the officers. In
dise, which he had left neatly bun- the meantime, with help from
dled on the sidewalk outside. When SVP, and after three days of run-
Ali went to investigate, the police ning from precinct to precinct
arrested him, seized his goods, and (and being told he could not
used racist (to say the least) lan- have it back), Ali and his mer-
guage, telling him he looked like a chandise were happily reunited
mo nke y.“ The ydo n’thavet her i
ght outside the police warehouse in
tos aytha t
,”s aysAl i
,co rr
ectly. Que ens.“ Ve ndo rpo we r,
”s aid
The charges were dismissed at Mohamend Ali.

Legislative Reform: Update

From one of our sponsors:

Despite a busy 2004, the
SVP continues to seek the
legal reforms that are neces-
sary to improve the lives of
all street vendors.
Our proposal, recently
introduced as the Street Ven-
dor Opportunity Bill, will do
four things to benefit all seg-
ments of the vending com-
munity.
First, it will remove the
licensing cap to give food
and general vendors an op-
portunity to work legally.
Vendors want licenses, and
rather than arresting vendors
like criminals, the city should
bring people into the system.
Want to solve the problem of
unlicensed vending? Give peo-
ple licenses.
Second, the bill will abolish
the Vendor Review Panel and
open up more streets by creat-
ing an objective standard, as is
currently used for newsstands,
for determining which streets
will be closed to vending.
Third, the bill will change
the oppressive 20 foot rule to
10 feet when regular store-
fronts are involved, opening
up many more spaces for
vending.
Fourth, the bill will lower
the maximum fines and take
the power to set fines away
from ECB, which has abused
that power.
We are currently in talks
with City Council members
about this bill. Call to get
involved with this process.
 Page 3

Be a Member of the
Sign up Street Vendor! Project !
for Membership
Benefits Join the 230 members who have already signed up
● ECBT i
ck et
s
● ECBAppeal s Street Vendor Project
● SalesT axHel p Membership Card
Expiration date: 9/15/05
● Criminal Court(somec ases)
●IDBadg e(sees ample,ri
ght)
● VoteinAnnual Electi
ons Ramirez, Odulio
ID No 00-119
●F orfei
ture&L i
c enseRevocati
ons 666 Broadway, NY, NY10012

●L i
c enseAppl icati
ons&Rene wals
● Ne wslett
er(fourt i
mesay ear
)
●F reeDi sposableCamer aand30f oott
apemeas ur e
● Helpwi thfil
ingPoliceComplaint(
CCRB)F or ms , andmor e!
DUES = $100 per year

New Longer Hours Congrats to SVP mem- MONTHLY MEETING

ber Godwin Ojofeitimi 2nd Tuesday of the month @ 7 pm
Office now open until 9pm
on his new website: 
 January 11, 2005
on Mondays
check out  February 8, 2005

Call for details: 646-602-5681 justamazing.net  March 8, 2005

Peddlers vs. Potted Plants

You may have noticed that the
sidewalks are more congested
these days. It is not just your
imagination. They actually are.
And it is not the fault of street
vendors.
The Street Vendor Project
The culprits
has kicked off a campaign vending that, with these planters, to the Department of Trans-
against the proliferation of weha venowhe retogo .” portation, which has jurisdic-
illegal planters, which seem While vendors bear no ill tion over these sidewalk ob-
to have taken over the side- will toward the shrubs them- structions, and demand en-
walks of midtown and down- selves, the same cannot be said of forcement. We will also be
town Manhattan. many building owners, who in- attending Community Board
Many buildings place the variably claim that the planters hearings to speak out against
planters there, without the a ret herefor“ be autif
ication”o r these public nuisances.
required permits, for the pur- “security
.” The yc ompl aint hat On Thursday, Jan 13th, we
pose of displacing vendors. the sidewalks are too congested will be attending Community
“Wha tki ndo fac it
ydo to allow vending, while at the Bo ardFi ve’sme eting,where
wel i
vei n,”s ai
dv endo rA. same time illegally placing 4 x 4 they will be discussing the
Davis, who is leading the foot concrete barriers on the pub- placement of planters at 641
charge among a coalition of lic thoroughfare. Fifth Avenue. Please come to
v endo r
s.“ So ma ny s tree
ts The SVP is collecting illegal 227 W. 27th Street at 5 p.m.
have already been closed to planter locations to present them to help us with this fight.
 Street Vendor Project
666 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10012
(646) 602-5679
(646) 602-5681
www.streetvendor.org

i
ndi
vidualr
ight
s•s
oci
alc
hange

The Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center is a

membership based non-profit organization founded in Octo-
ber 2001 to provide legal representation, advocacy and
grassroots organizing support to street vendors of all kinds in
New York City. For more info, go to www.streetvendor.org.
On the streets, in the parks, vendor power.

$450,000 for Central giving the vendors their re-

quired daily breaks; by requir-
Park Vendors ing them to pay for tickets that
we ret hec ompa ny’sf ault;a nd
by deducting from their pay-
Food vendors in Central unpaid overtime. The Street check when the vendors had
Park won a big victory in Vendor Project, which first items stolen from them.
November against the em- discovered the abuse in 2002, The illegal actions by
ployer who had been under- brought it to the attention of M&T, who also verbally and
paying and abusing them t heAt torneyGe ner
a l
’so ffi
ce, physically abused the vendors, street, eventually bid on
for years, M&T Pretzel. In which prosecuted the case and fired the most outspoken many spots in prime park
the settlement, reached be- against M&T. among them, hit the vending locations.
tween the company and the The investigation found community especially hard be- Any vendors who worked
Sta t
e At tor
ne y Ge neral
’s that the vendors worked as cause the company was founded for M&T in Central Park
office, between 50 and 100 much as 80 hours per week by a former vendor. Themistok- should call the office at
vendors, most of them from for as little as $60 per day, lis Makkos immigrated from (646) 602-5679 for a claim
Bangladesh, will share which is illegal. In addition, Greece in 1974 and, after vend- form to send to the Attorney
$450,000 in back wages and M&T broke the law by not ing from his own cart on the Ge ne ra
l’soffice
.