Archive for 'Street Vendor Issues'

Group of FiDi Food Carts Cannot Catch a Break, Part 2

Food carts are not welcome here either.

You know what sucks? Going to eat at a specific cart and finding that they are nowhere to be found. It’s doubly frustrating because, unlike many food trucks, most don’t use Twitter to update their location mostly because they work to stay in the same place every day.

Now that my little rant is over, you’d probably like to know where all of the carts that were parked on Nassau St. between Liberty and Cedar went. As of late last week all but the smoothie cart were booted from their new spots, after previously being forced to move from Liberty & Broadway when an inanimate object (aka, a Citi Bike rack) moved into their spots. The good news? Many of the carts have found new spots or are scouting locations. Read more »

Liberty St. Vendors Lose Bid To Get Citi Bike Rack Moved

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Three months ago a handful of food carts at Liberty St. & Broadway in the Financial District came to park on a Monday morning and found a long Citi Bike docking station in their spots. The Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center was fighting on the vendors’ behalf, but the Department of Transportation will not be moving the rack.

The affected carts have found new spots that are in some cases less visible than at the large plaza on Broadway between Liberty and Cedar streets. Biryani House moved across the plaza, while the smoothie cart, 99% Vegetarian, A-Pou’s Taste, Luckyim Thai and the new Cocina Mexicana relocated around the corner on Nassau St. Hopefully they will get to stay at the new location.

Help Liberty St. Vendors Get A Citi Bike Rack Moved

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You may remember a couple of weeks ago when we posted about some of the food carts being forced to move from long time spots on Liberty St. at Broadway. The cause was a large Citi Bike station being installed one weekend, the vendors say without their consultation. Some of them have found new, less visible spots around the corner on Nassau St. & Liberty, but I’m sure sales are down somewhat when you’re not seen by the many tourists that walk down Broadway every day.

Want to help these vendors? Find out how after the jump.

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New Citi Bike Rack Displaces Liberty St. Vendors

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I’m sure I wasn’t the only one confused on Monday to find a newly installed Citi Bike rack in place of the row of food carts normally on Liberty St. at Broadway. This is not the first time these vendors have struggled to maintain their spots, but this is permanent.

The rack is fairly long, with no room on either side for a cart to set up, leaving a smoothie vendor, 99% Vegetarian, Biryani House, A-Pou’s Taste and Luckyim Thai carts all without anywhere to park. The affected vendors turned to the Street Vendor Project for help, and it sounds like they are unsure what to do next, but you can show your support for them on Thursday.  Read more »

The Great Street Meet Is Happening, And You Could Get In For Free

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There are a couple of events put on every year by the Street Vendor Project that help out the people providing us with lunch (or other non-edible items) from carts or trucks on a daily basis, without a PR machine behind them. The Vendy Awards are one, but there’s another coming up on April 2 called The Great Street Meet that you can buy tickets to. This one celebrates the SVP community, as well as the recent City Council bill that cut the cost of the tickets that vendors get for certain violations in half. And if you buy a ticket before Friday, you’ll be entered in a drawing that could net you a tasty-sounding dinner at Ma PecheRead more »

Soho Street Food Vendors Among Group Suing City: There was a press conference this morning where the Street Vendor Project announced a lawsuit against the New York Police Department and City of New York in the wake of a sweep of street vendors in May that included some food carts. According to a press release from the SVP, a sweep of the lower part of Broadway in Soho by uniformed and plainclothes officers led to them allegedly confiscating five vendors' property which they say was done illegally. Among the alleged infractions were cart height restrictions, which I'm assuming refers to the food vendors. If you haven't bought a ticket to this year's Vendy Awards yet, its proceeds help SVP do work like representing these vendors.

Trucks Asked To Move From Hudson & King…Again

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It was almost exactly a year ago that food trucks started to get hassled on the blocks in the area of Hudson and King streets, and yesterday morning Twitter exploded with some trucks saying they had been asked to leave that area by the police. When I made it up there in between rain showers I saw Frites N Meats parked on King and a fro-yo truck parked on Hudson. Red Hook Lobster Pound Truck had been the one sounding the alarm in the morning, saying they’d been asked to leave the area. Check out what they had to say after the jump.

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