Street vendors in New York are tired of waiting upon City Hall for help.
So they gathered on the steps of the city legislature Thursday along with advocates to call upon the Adams administration to ensure their right to work with dignity and stability.
The rally attendees marched on Sept. 29 to demand that Mayor Eric Adams and other city leaders end policies they believe are unjust enforcements of their businesses, and instead ask that their businesses be recognized and formalized as well as invested in.
“I am here with my neighbors to call on the mayor to finally get serious,” said Queens state Senator Jessica Ramos at the rally. “Four hundred and four [street vending] permits were expected to be doled out this year and we are yet to see any action, any [update] about anything from this mayor. So we want him to get serious. Don’t just be a mayor for big business, look at our smallest entrepreneurs fighting to put food on the table for their families. They are not criminals, they are hard-working people looking for dignity and looking for the legalization of their businesses.”
