New Yorkers have voted for the passage of Proposition 2, a ballot measure that asked voters to amend the City Charter by “expanding the Department of Sanitation’s power to clean streets and other City property and require disposal of waste in containers.”
While the proposal seemed harmless enough, advocates are sounding the alarm on its alleged hidden agenda, saying it gives greater authority to the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) in policing street vendors, especially those who are unlicensed.
“Prop 2’s intentionally misleading language hides the real impact,” said Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, deputy director of the Street Vendor Project, in a statement. “Under this measure, the Department of Sanitation would have expanded powers as a law enforcement tool, weaponized to crack down on street vendors without oversight.”
Currently, an estimated 23,000 street vendors operate on the streets of New York, with 96% of them immigrants hailing mostly from Mexico, Ecuador, Egypt, and Senegal. Three-quarters of food vendors are unpermitted.
Non-food vendors could apply for a general vendor license with the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to sell merchandise on the street. To sell food on the street, vendors need to apply for a separate food vendor license from the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. They also need to apply for a permit for the food cart or vehicle.
Also Read: How to Apply for a Street Vendor Permit and License in New York City
Food vendor licenses are not limited, but the city has long capped the number of vendor permits it issues, with 853 permits available for non-veteran applicants. Waitlists for both general vendor licenses and mobile food vendor permits total over 20,000 individuals.
Instead of opening new pathways for unlicensed vendors to obtain permits, advocates believe Prop 2 only creates new ways to criminalize them. An empowered mayor is of particular concern to Kaufman-Gutierrez, who says that street vendor enforcement has already been aggressive under Mayor Eric Adams.
Citing public safety concerns by residents, Mayor Adams launched a crackdown on sex work and street vendors along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens in October. The crackdown, called “Operation Restore Roosevelt” by the mayor, is a coordinated effort by NYPD and DSNY to make the busy commercial strip safer. Yet advocates say police have disproportionately targeted immigrant street vendors along Roosevelt Avenue for lacking licensing.
Vendors have had their fruits, vegetables, and property confiscated by the police. Many vendors report that sometimes they have had their items confiscated without receiving a fine or receipt, making the total number of fines issued unclear.
Several videos were recorded by street vendors and shared with Documented, which showed NYPD and DSNY officers confiscating vendors’ merchandise and putting it into trucks. According to the Street Vendor Project, many vendors have been unable to recover their belongings after they’ve been taken by police. They explain that the loss of their merchandise, and sometimes even their stalls, can spell economic ruin for many of the immigrant vendors who live a precarious existence.
“We’re already seeing the city dramatically ramp up its punitive enforcement while doing nothing to solve underlying economic injustices,” said Kaufman-Gutierrez. “From property confiscation to violent harassment along Roosevelt Avenue, vendors are being attacked for lacking permits, at the same time that they are denied any chance to get a permit.”
In September, Documented reported an incident in Queens where the NYPD confiscated Blanca Alvarado’s food cart and crushed it in the back of a garbage truck as she watched in disbelief.
Also Read: Analysis Gives New Insights and Data on New York Street Vendors
“I was mostly worried about what was going to happen next, so I walked away and cried,” said Alvarado at the time. Customizing her food cart from scratch set her back $6,000, and she spent her life savings on the down payment.
With the passage of Prop 2, Sonia Perez, a Mexican street vendor who sells tamales and champurrados in Bushwick, Brooklyn, is afraid for her livelihood. Although she is unlicensed it’s not for lack of trying. Because the city caps the number of vendor licenses they issue each year. Perez has been waiting for a permit for 20 years.
“You will see more street vendors struggling,” she said. “I have always said that if you see a city without any street vendors, it is a dead city. This will give more militarization, more policing, and more terrorization of vendors that we feel every day. We need more licenses, not more officers.”
Currently, DSNY only has the authority to clean city streets and enforce street vending rules on city streets. They do not clean public spaces, such as areas in and around city parks. According to the DSNY, who spoke to Documented on background, Prop 2 won’t immediately extend DSNY authority to those areas; rather, the rules will give the mayor the ability to direct the agency to provide supplemental cleaning and enforcement.
The proposition’s vague language makes it unclear how DSNY will be empowered. That distresses Mark Winston Griffith, the spokesperson for No Power Grab NYC, a coalition that campaigned against ballot Proposals 2 through 6.
“Mayor Adams used deception and cynicism to con New Yorkers into damaging our city’s system of governance, giving him and future mayors more unchecked power,” he said in a statement. “All of this moves NYC in the wrong direction.”
Gutierrez agrees, adding that the city should embrace the ingenuity of these immigrant small business owners rather than punish them.
“Street vendors have always worked hard to serve their communities and are a staple of New York’s iconic street food culture,” she said. “Proposition 2 is an unfair blow to these entrepreneurs.”
