Newsletter Spring 2006

VENDOR NEWSLETTER Street Vendor Project 666 Broadway, 5th Floor New York, NY 10012 2005-6 Leadership Board Khaled Abouelkhair Emad Ali Mohammed Ali Zenab Bangoura Luther Bolden Moustapha Cisse Janis Collado Josue Echavaria Diba Gaye Sophia Laskaris Mohammed Miah M’ b a y eMo u s s a Angelo Vega Michael Wells James Williams Staff Organizer Judi Mukarhinda Project Director Sean Basinski Interns and volunteers Jessica Arabski Molly Coe Jose Marie Melgarejo Alexa Rosenberg

INSIDE:  Ci t yCounc i l Hear i ng …p.2  VendyUpdat e…. . . . . . . . . . p.3  500St r ong ……………. . p.2  Cal endar ……. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 3  Rac i al Abus e…. . . . . . . . . . . . p.4  MemberPr of i l e……. . . . . p. 2

Spring 2006 (646) 602-5679 or (646) 602-5681

Vendors March for Immigrant Rights New York City has long been the gateway through business owners, impatient police, and miles of red which imtape. migrants In response pass on to these diffitheir way culties, SVP to prospervendors left ity and their carts for independa day to supence, but port immithe U.S. grants everyCongress where. The proposed a vendors met bill this at 666 Broadyear that way to make w o u l d signs in six make it a different lanfelony to help an undocumented immigrant remain in g u a g e s .Bo a r dMe mb e rM’ b a y ebr o ug ht“ I♥ NY” the U.S. So, on May 1, 2006, more than forty SVP tee-shirts for the group, while Angelo Vega brought vendors joined forces with thousands of other New American flags. Blowing whistles and waving their Yorkers to demonstrate the vital role immigrants play signs and flags, the group headed up Broadway toi nNe wYo r kCi t y ’ se c o nomy . ward Union Square. Ac c or di n gt oSVP’ ss t u dyofd own t ownv e n do r s , Parting traffic, the vendors attracted lots of attenmore than 80% of NYC vendors are immigrants. tion along Broadway, warranting mentions in several They have traveled to the United States with the ex- local news publications. Passers-by stopped and were pectation of climbing the economic ladder through impressed by their enthusiasm. The SVP members hard work and perseverance. For recent arrivals with brought new energy to the demonstrators already conlittle knowledge of English, street vending is a good gregated in Union Square. In all, May 1st was a gorway to enter the world of small business. These ven- geous day to show true immigrant and vendor power. dors are met with unreasonable legislation, spiteful

Elections Notice: SVP Needs You! SVP board elections are coming up, and we need experienced vendors from all backgrounds to run. All SVP members should attend this meeting!

What: Board Elections Wh e r e : 666B’ wa y , 5t hF l . When: Tues, July 11 7:30 pm

Who will be on the new Leadership Board?

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Vendors Press for ECB Change at City Hall SVP Board members showed up ECB to provide much-needed early on the morning of Thurs- interpreters, as criminal and civil day, May 11 2006 to testify at a courts do. City Council hearThe ing on two bills b i l l s that would finally w e r e bring some justice written to the Environby Counmental Control cil MemBoard, or ECB. b e r Intro 64A would James allow judges to Gennaro reduce the outraLeadership Board with David Yassky as a regeous vending sult of fines in appropriate cases, with- the campaign SVP has waged out having to impose the board- against ECB since 2003. The mandated (i.e., $1,000) levels. hearing was sponsored by CounIntro 66A would require the cil Member Yassky, who

showed his dedication to vendor s ’r i g h t sbya nno unc i nga tt he he a r i ngt ha th e“ e x pe c t st opa s s the bills out of committee soon." Sean Basinski, SVP director, t e s t i f i e dt ha t“ $1, 0 00pe rv i o l a tion...is an amount that no vendor can pay, and it is putting many hard-working people out of business because of simple mi s t a k e s . ” After Sean, the vendors spoke f or t he or g a n i z a t i o n. M’ ba y e Moussa testified that translators are needed because most vendors don ’ ts pe a ka de qua t e Eng l i s h. James Williams discussed how many vending regulations are so

minor that they judges should be allowed to impose the minimum fines. Finally, Janis Collado discussed how the requirement that vendors wear their licenses on the outside often penalizes people who simply leave their license in their pocket after using the restroom. “ Oura ppe a r a nc ewa ss t r o ng , and the fact that we were there wa se x c e l l e nt , ”s a i dJ a me sWi l liams, who vends cell phone accessories on Chambers Street. “ Iwa spr oudofouror ga n i z a t i on. “ Nowwe ha v et ok e e pt hepr e s sure on so that these bills bec omear e a l i t y , ”hes a i d.

Member Profile: Colonial Williams My name is Colonial Williams and I was born in Virginia, where I was raised by my grandmother. I moved to New York City to be with my parents when I was 12. Vending runs in my family. My father used to vend (and still does - he ’ s78)a ndIs t a r t e dbys e l l i ng e a r r i ng sa ndme n’ spa nt sd ur i ng the summers. My son vends now t oo,bu the ’ sab i gt i mev e nd or . He sells cutlery sets and cars. Everything I know about vending I learned from my dad. My best advice for being successful in New York is to try to follow the rules as best as you

can. I come out here and know t ha t I ’ m not gonna bother nobody, and I don ’ t wa nt nobody to bother me. I was drafted in 1966 and celebrated my 21st birthday in Vietnam. I was a good soldier and I served my time. I suffer now from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and sell handbags and wallets on East 86th St. with

aYe l l ow Ve t e r a n’ sLi c e n s e .I ’ v e vended in many places, but you c a n’ t v e nd a ny where without trouble from the police. Sean came around one day and introduced himself and told me about the project. I knew immediately that SVP was a great idea because there was finally someone for vendors instead of against vendors. I

j oi ne dt hepr oj e c ti n20 04 ;I ’ m member number 114. I ’ v eha dahundr e dj ob si nmy life - car washer, chauffer, body guard - a little bit of everything, but I always come back to vending. I like dealing with the public. You get used to a place and the people there get used to you. I keep my prices low because I can sell more that way. I can sell 5 bags at $5 when some other guy sells only 1 bag for $20. I come out here to make a living - not a killing - a living. Youc a n’ tma k eak i l l i ngo nt he s t r e e t s , t ha t ’ sf ors ur e .

SVP Welcomes its 500th Member ! The goal of the Street Vendor Project has always been to present a unified voice for all New York City vendors; now that voice is 500-people strong. On June 13th, at a well- attended membership meeting, we signed up our 500th member, a general vendor named Modou Sarr. Mr. Sarr is originally from Senegal and came to the U.S. in 1986. A

vendor for 20 years, he sells handbags on of our organization. Our membership base is Seventh Avenue. When asked diverse, composed of vendors from many how he felt about bedifferent ethnic groups coming the 500th mema n d n ei gh b o rh o o ds ber of SVP, he replied throughout the city. “ I ’ mv e r yha ppy .I t ’ sa With current members l uc ky numbe r . ” Sa r r constantly doing outwas honored with a reach to bring in new bouquet of flowers and members, our presence is a candle-lit vendor felt everywhere from the pastry cake. streets to City Hall. The bigger we get, the Welcoming our Member #500 ! stronger our collective 500th member was a momentous occasion for SVP, reflecting the rapid growth struggle for vendors. Vendor power x 500!

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Sign up for Membership ! Join our community of 500 members —all vendors are welcome

Benefits

Street Vendor Project Membership Card

  ECB Tickets and appeals   Sales Tax Help

Expiration date: 05/31/07

  Criminal Court (some cases)

Bijith Lal Das ID No 501

  Forfeiture & License Revocations   License and Permits Applications

666 Broadway, NY, NY 10012

  Help with Filing Police Complaints   Free Camera and 30 foot tape measure   ID Badge (see sample), newsletter (four times a year)   Vote in Annual Elections

DUES = $100 per year Monthly Meeting

POINTERS

2nd Tuesday of every month → Meas ur eev er y t hi ngbef or ey ous etup! → T ake phot osofmeas ur ement si fy ou geta t i cket .Gett heof f i cer ’ sbadge#.

POLICE LOVE VENDORS!

→ Checkt hedat e,t i me,andaddr es son the ticket and document any discrepancies. Call SVP for help with any problems.

@ 7.30 pm 666 Broadway, 5th fl

July 11 Aug. 8 Sept. 12

Oct. 10 Nov. 14 Dec. 12

Vendy Update: Finalists See Business Boom! The Vendy Awards are a great way for street thousands of vendors who supply hungry food enthusiasts to celeNew Yorkers with afbrate the diversity that fordable meals every vendors bring to the day. New York City culinary Rolf Babiel (with his scene, and a good fundbrother Wolfgang) took raiser for the project. home top prize at the But the Vendys have Vendy Awards last Noalso improved business vember 11, 2005. Since for all vendors nomithen, the Babiel brothers nated to be finalists. The have witnessed an amazinternational publicity ing boom in business as the event received the crowds line up in brought world-wide Rolf Babiel, 2005 Vendy Champ droves to taste the best attention not just to the four finalists, but the f oo dont hes t r e e t .Rol fs a y s ,“ we ’ v ea l wa y s

had a lot of business, but now its crazy. We were on Japanese TV, and now the Japanese t ou r i s t sc omebyt hebu s l oa d. ” Anot he rf i na l i s t ,“ Dos a Ma n” Thi r u Kuma r ,s a y she ’ sha d“ al otofne w pe opl e ” c omet oh i sc a r ts i nc et heVe ndi e s“ wh o’ v e be c omer e gu l a rc us t ome r s . ”Hea dde dt ha t “ wi t ha l lt heme d i aa t t e n t i on,I ’ v eha dpe o pl e from other countries call me to ask about my bus i n e s s .I ’ mt heo nl yv e g a ndos av e nd ori n t heCi t ya nde v e r y onewa nt e dt ok nowmor e . ” Thi sy e a r ’ sVe ndyAwa r dswi l lbehe l di n October. Come to SVP meetings to find out how to be nominated for this prestigious award!

Street Vendor Project 666 Broadway, 5th Floor New York, NY 10012 (646) 602-5679 (646) 602-5681 www.streetvendor.org

i ndi v i dualr i ght s•s oc i alc hange Food Vendors Fight Millionaires on Upper East Side Khaled Elashkar has sold shish kabobs on 67th Street and One of them ordered him to move because his cart was on Madison Avenue for six years, and all people in the neighbora subway grating, despite the fact that only general vendors are hood love him. The workers in the fancy boutiques think his forbidden from working on subway grates. To document the low-carb lunches are to-die-for. For the police abuse, the vendors decided to film the contractors in the expensive buildings situation from a short distance away. The offine a r by ,Kha l e d’ sc h i c k e na ndr i c ec ombo cers promptly confiscated the videotape and gave is their daily bread. And all private school Kh a l e d’ sne p he w ac r i mi n a lc o ur ts ummonsf o r kids flock around his cart in the afternoon harassment. About a week later, Khaled arrived for his sugary, cold drinks. at work to find three huge concrete planters in All the people love him, except two his spot. a husband and wife team who own a mil“ Wh a ta r ewego i n gt odo . . . s i thome ,g oo n lion-dollar brownstone nearby, just off we l f a r e ,ors e l ldr ug s ? ”de c r i e dKh a l e da ndhi s Central Park. For nearly two months, cousin, Maged Ibrahim. Particularly unsettling these two have waged a campaign to kick Khaled Elashkar, food vendor wa st hebl a t a ntpo l i c eh os t i l i t yt ot hev e nd or s ’ Khaled off the block. c ul t ur ea ndr e l i gi on .“ The yc a l l e dmeat e r r o r i s t First, the woman asked Khaled to move. When he politely a ndt ol dmet h a tIs h oul dge tMoh a mme dt oh e l pme , ”r e refused (his spot is legal) she offered him money to take his c a l l e dKh a l e d .Af t e rKh a l e d’ sne p he wa s k e df orh e l pf r om bu s i ne s se l s e wh e r e .Th e ns h et h r e a t e ne dh i m.“ Iknow t he other vendors at the June monthly meeting, a group of SVP Ma y or , ”s h es a i d.Sh ea l s okn owsp e opl ea tt h e1 9t hPr e c i nc t , members went to the precinct to talk to someone in charge. At a nds oo nof f i c e r swe r ea r r i vi n ga tKha l e d ’ ss p otd a i l yt oh a r a s s press time, they were still trying to arrange a meeting. him.

SVP World Cup Party - Sunday, July 9th, 604 5th Avenue, 2 p.m.