Every afternoon, Gabriela Almaraz packs two carts with Mexican food ready to be sold.

After losing her house-cleaning jobs at the beginning of the pandemic, and with the help of her fourteen-year-old son, Almaraz has joined the ranks of immigrant street vendors trying to make ends meet.

 

What You Need To Know

  • Activists see a growing number of street vendors because of the pandemic

  • Some new street vendors lost their previous jobs at the beginning of the pandemic

  • The City Council could grow the number of street vending permits next year
  • Some small businesses want the city to wait before expanding the street vending sector

 

“I’m selling in the street because my husband was diagnosed with cancer and can’t work,” Almaraz said in Spanish.

She says she nets about $80 a day on a corner in the Corona neighborhood, even though she doesn’t have a permit. 

“Across the city we are seeing a lot of folks who maybe were in unstable employment previous to the pandemic, who have turned to street vending as a way to support themselves and their families," said Carina Kaufman-Gutiérrez, deputy director at the Street Vendor Project. 

A few blocks away from Almaraz, also without a permit, Ernestina Sánchez is selling fruit, after losing her job back in March at a Manhattan dry cleaning business.

She says she brings home no more than $30 a day. 

“It’s just enough so I can buy food to eat,” Sánchez said in Spanish. 

In order to help these struggling New Yorkers, groups like the Street Vendor Project are asking the City Council to pass a bill that would expand the number of street vending permits, which has been capped at a little over 5,000.  

That would help vendors avoid fines and police crackdowns.

The bill, whose prime sponsor is Councilwoman Margaret Chin, would add 400 permits a year over a decade, create a new dedicated vending law enforcement unit, and set up an advisory board, including vendors and small business and labor representatives. 

But some groups, like the New York State Latino Restaurant Bar and Lounge Association, are telling the Council to wait. 

“I don’t think right now is the best time. We need to help our brick-and-mortar places come back from this pandemic,” said Jeffrey García, president of the New York State Latino Restaurant Bar and Lounge Association.

Another leading sponsor of this bill is Brooklyn City Councilman and mayoral candidate Carlos Menchaca.

“These are small businesses. Street vendors are part of the history of this incredible city and they are out there right now providing services, food, and if we can bring them into the system with legal permits, we can actually be increasing the economy of the city in a place that is safe outside,” Menchaca said. 

Out of 51 council members, 29 sponsor the bill. 

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is expected to put it to a vote next year. 

“He is working towards finding ways to help this vital industry,” a spokesperson for Johnson’s office said in a statement.

But for the time being, vendors like Almaraz will have to wait a little longer.