Despite attempts at making an honest living, vendors are subject to a litany of unjust regulations which make their work an incredible challenge. Since the early 1980s, an arbitrary cap has been placed on the number of available food permits and general vending licenses. This cap effectively makes street vending illegal for thousands of vendors and has led to the creation of a black market where permits that were originally purchased from the City for $200 are now sold upwards of $25,000.
Lifting the caps on permits and licenses would decriminalize vending for hard-working immigrant and veteran communities, it would generate even greater revenue for the City, and bring an end to this illegal black market. In a city where economic inequality is on a constant rise and where jobs are scarce, vendors work tirelessly as the city’s smallest businesses in order to support their families while keeping New York affordable.
Join the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, along with our allies, to urge New York City Council to pass new legislation that would lift the cap on permits and licenses! Vendor Power!
Campaign Endorsers:
National Domestic Workers Alliance
Food Chain Workers Alliance
Urban Justice Center, New York City
Make the Road NY, New York City
Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, New York City
New York Worker Center Federation, New York City
Laundry Worker Center, New York City
El Centro del Inmigrante, New York City
New York Immigration Coalition, New York City
Chhaya CDC, New York City
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), New York City
Queens Economic Development Corporation, New York City
Brooklyn Food Coalition, New York City
Brandworkers, New York City
Peter Chicchino Youth Project, New York City
NYU’s Department of Food Studies, New York City
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, New York City
Crown Heights Tenant Union, New York City
Metropolitan Council on Housing, New York City
New York City Food Truck Association, New York City
Community Action for Safe Apartments, New York City
BuskNY, New York City
Just Food, New York City
Enlace International, USA and Mexico
CATA: The Farmworker Support Committee, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania
Asociacion de Vendedores Ambulantes, Chicago
Institute for Justice, USA
Alliance for Fair Food, Florida
Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Florida
LatinoJustice, New York
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, Nationwide
