Ahmed Hassan was one of the vendors selling keychains and souvenirs on the Brooklyn Bridge before being given the boot by the Adams administration. The mayor ordered vendors off all bridges this year, because of safety and overcrowding issues on the pedestrian path of the world-famous bridge.

“A lot of tourists and also local customers. They love vendors. They love buying from vendors, they love the souvenirs of the Statue of Liberties,” Hassan said. “If you go and see how many people, how many tourists buy from the vendors, you know, it’s very important. But some others make a mess and take a lot of space.”

What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Eric Adams ordered vendors to be banned from bridges after serious overcrowding occurred on the Brooklyn Bridge last month

  • Councilwoman Gale Brewer has a bill that would allow vendors back on the bridge, with some restrictions

  • The Adams administration opposes the return of vendors because of safety issues

But Hassan said that’s no reason to kick everyone off the bridge.

“You don’t burn the house down because you find some bugs in it,” he said. “Just kick the bugs out.”

Hassan testified at a City Council hearing in support of a bill that would bring vendors back. It’s the latest effort from lawmakers in the council to show up the mayor on another policy front — this time, over-regulations about where vendors can set up shop.

An NYPD official testifying against the bill described one particularly crowded day on the bridge in December that led to 911 calls.

“A call came in at 3:15 stating that vendors are blocking the entrance, and then two hours later there’s a separate caller that states that vendors are blocking the road,” NYPD deputy inspector Kevin Cain said during his council testimony. “I can’t speak to what the specific officers on scene saw, but what they did was put at least two people on each side, the Manhattan side and the Brooklyn side, and they were regulating the entry of the bridge to prevent more overcrowding.”

Councilwoman Gale Brewer, of the Upper West Side, is behind the bill, which would allow vendors back on bridges, with some rules and restrictions.

“You can add [guidelines] for safety, as well as support for the vendors and support for pedestrians, something that was appropriate for the space, time and place,” Brewer said.

But on the topic, there is some rift between councilmembers, unlike the unity they showed to override Adams’ vetoes of bills on solitary confinement and documenting police interactions.

“For people who were trying to enjoy the majestic Brooklyn Bridge, it was no longer safe,” said Councilman Lincoln Restler, who represents the Brooklyn side of the bridge. “What I would not support is vending on the bridge itself.”

Brewer’s bill would still keep food vendors off the Brooklyn Bridge, and no vendor can be on the approaches to the bridge or the bike lane.

Vendors who would be allowed back would have to set up shop in the spots of the pedestrian pathway that are at least 16-feet-wide and must vend 20-feet-apart from each other.