Newsletter Summer 2005 Final

VENDOR NEWSLETTER Street Vendor Project 666 Broadway, 5th Floor New York, NY 10012 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 Ryan Devlin Justin Domenich Benjamin Galynker Diana Gruberg Katie Neilson Sara Sluszka Ma ’ a y a nWe i n b e r g Binan Xu

Summer 2005 (646) 602-5679 or (646) 602-5681

Vendors - 1 Planters - 0 Sikdar tried to squeeze his fruit cart beThe Street Vendor Project earned one of its most tween the planters, but soon he was getting tick“ c o n c r e t e ”v i c t o r i e se v e rt h i sJ ul ywhe ng o tr i do f ets from the sidewalk the health planters that department were putting for placing vendors out his cart too of work just far from blocks from the curb. SVP’ s he a d When the quarters. SVP conM o h a mBefore After fronted the med Sikdar health inspector about the problem, they said had been supporting six children (both here and in there was nothing they could do, except keep his native Bangladesh) by selling his delicious fruit writing tickets; planters were not their departnear the subway entrance at Broadway and Housment. Sikdar moved down the street, ton Streets for eight years. A coffee & away from the subway station, but his bagel vendor shared his spot in the business decreased by half. He came morning, and a hot dog man toiled to an SVP monthly meeting and asked around the corner. When the old car the leadership board for help. wash was torn down to make room for The group decided to use its a n Ad i da ss up e r s t o r e ,Si k da r ’ sbu s i strength in numbers. All members ness suffered. Then, one day in June were instructed to call 311 to register a he came to work to find that the new complaint about the plants, which reowners had placed 45 concrete plantsearch showed had no permits. With a ers along the sidewalk, blocking his flurry of calls coming in, the Departspot. The security guard came out Vendor Power ! ment of Transportation had no choice but from the building, showed him a badge, to act against the building. Soon, a truck and told him the police would take his came up to take the planters where they bec a r ti fhed i d n ’ tmov e .“ Theo wn e rdo e s n ’ twa nt longed: New Jersey. Bye bye, bushes ! y ouhe r e , ”s a i dt h eg u a r d .

INSIDE: •Penal t ypr ot es t …. . . . . . p.2 •Memberpr of i l e. . . . . . .p.2 •Par kRowr ow …. . . .. . p.3 •Fr ui tc ar tf ors al e. .. . p.3 •SVPt -shirts ........... ..p. 3 •Memberi nf o. . . . . . . . . . .p.3 •Vendor s&hi ps t er s. . . p. 4

2005 Party (aka the Vendy Awards) Thi sy e a r ’ sSVPh o l i da yp a r t y will not be any old party — it will double as the 1st Annual Vendy Awards, to be awarded to the best food vendor in NYC. Last year, scores of vendors danced, ate, and drank the night away at the big bash. Dinner, while excellent, was provided by a local

restaurant. This year, vendors will serve vendors, along with the many other folks who want to show their support (and sample some great food) by attending the fundraiser. A team of expert judges will determine the Vendy Winner. Wine, beer, soda and snacks will be provided. Come celebrate the contribution that all vendors make to our city every day.

Thursday, November 10 27 E. 4th Street ( n o t f a r f r o m666B’ wa y ) 7 p.m.—10:30 p.m. $20 for vendors Beer, wine and snacks provided — or you can order from the vendors in attendance. Bring friends and family —and your dancing shoes.

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Vendors Keep Up Pressure over $1,000 Fines The SVP kept up its efforts this summer its year long campaign t of i g h tt h eCi t y ’ si mp os i t i o n of $1,000 maximum fines for vending violations. In spite of our win in Supreme Court last September, and two hearings attended by hundreds of vendors who spoke out against the plan, the ECB did not relent in its attempt to put vendors out of business by increasing maximum vending f i n e s f r o m $250 to $1,000. So, on August 22nd, the SVP held a rally at City Hall to bring attention to our struggle for economic justice in a city where no big business would ever have to pay $1,000. Bangin g wat er-bott le drums and blasting whistles, more than 120 vendors marched down Broadway to City Hall Park, where they walked around the fountain in the bright sunshine, holding

s i g ns s a y i ng “ h a v e a ♥, Ma y or ”a nd“ We ’ r en o tBi l l i on a i r e s . ” While board member James Williams led the cheers, some vendors broke off to buy water for the others. Some board members, like Angelo Vega and Michael Wells, stood aside to talk to reporters from 1010 Wins and Channel 9 News, among others w h o were in attendance for the event. “ No w, a lot of people understand why we are complaining. The way the Mayor is doing this is bad; they just wa ntt hemo ne y , ”s a i dMus t a pha Cisse, a board member. Finally, after about an hour of marching, the vendors were greeted by their Democratic supporters in the race for City Council, Congressman Anthony Weiner and former

Bronx Borough President Ferincrease by giving ECB judges nando Ferrer. Telling the venthe discretion to determine what dors he sympathized with fine is appropriate within a t he m, Fe r r e rs a i d “ $1 , 0 00 given range. For example, for a makes all the fourth ofdifference in the fense within world for folks two years, (Every 2 years) working the hardthe judge 1st Offense: $50 could fine e s t . ” $100 a n y w h e r e The next day, 2nd Offense the rally was also 3rd Offense: $250 from $250 to reported in the 4th Offense: $500 $1,000. The NY Times, NY 5th Offense: $750 bill would Daily News, Hoy, 6th, 7th, 8th, etc. $1,000 also provide Noticias del for interpretMundo, Sing Tao Health Dept. tickets not included e r s at Daily, and on E C B — New York One. something “ Iho pet heMa y orh e a r dwh a t SVP has been advocating for we were since its t e l l i n gh i m, ” incepsaid Cisse. tion. The next Eight day, the SVP S V P got a call vendor from Counleaders cil Speaker attended Gifford Millthe news e r s ’ o f f i c e conferabout a bill ence at that SVP had City Hall been workannouncing on for ing the months. This bill would effecnew bill, which hopefully will t i v e l yr o l lba c kt heCi t y ’ sf i ne become law by 2006.

New Fines:

Member Profile: Ricarte Melendez My name is Ricarter Melendez, but my friends call me Ricarte. I am a disabled U.S. military veteran, and I sell merchandise— often jewelry or sunglasses—on Broadway in SoHo. I was born in Puerto Rico, but moved to New York when I was nine years old, and have lived here ever since. Right now I live in Washington Heights, so I travel about 45 minutes to get to work every day. Before vending I had a lot of different jobs—in the

NYC Parks Department, as a day laborer in construction, and in warehouses and restaurants. After a while I started vending because I thought that I would have more freedom. Now I work with other vendors who supply the merchandise while I offer them the use of my license; but my goal is to become more independent and

get together the money to buy and sell my own merchandise. I t ’ snote a s y , though. Some days I work three or four hours and only make $20. I also have problems budgeting, and was homeless for the past few years, which prevented me from working at all

for a while. A lot of the veterans are homeless, like I was. Even with these problems, I like vending because it gives me the freedom to be my own boss and work my own hours— y o uc a n’ tb e a tt ha t .Yo ua l s o get paid the same day you work—another benefit. Vending is a good business if you have a license and your own merchandise. Luc ki l y ,I ’ mr e ne wi n gmy license this month with the help of the Street Vendor Project. Soo nI ’ l lb eba c ki nb us i n e s s for myself. For now, I take it one day at a time.

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Sign up for Membership ! Join our community of 400 members —all vendors are welcome

Benefits

Street Vendor Project Membership Card Expiration date: 10/08/06

● ECBT i cket sandappeal s ● Sal esT axHel p ● Cr i mi nalCour t( s omecas es ) Jiang Fa Fang ● For f ei t ur e&Li cens eRev ocat i ons ID No 396 666 Broadway, NY, NY 10012 ● Li cens eandPer mi t sAppl i cat i ons www.streetvendor.org ● Hel pwi t hFi l i ngPol i ceCompl ai nt s Sean Basinski, Director ● Fr eeCamer aand30f oott apemeas ur e ●I DBadge( s ees ampl e,r i ght ) ,news l et t er( f ourt i mesay ear ) ● Vot ei nAnnualEl ect i ons ,andmor e!

DUES = $100 per year The Street Vendor Project needs your support ! Buy our Tshirt for only $10.

FOR SALE (FRUIT NOT INCLUDED)

MONTHLY MEETING

2nd Tuesday of month @ 7.30 pm Fruit Cart — With Citywide Permit Good Thru 2007 Best Offer –call Jon @ (212) 752-5031

October 11, 2005 November 8, 2005 January 10, 2006

Vendors Fight Abuse from NYC Parks Police After several SVP members received a flurry of tickets and abuse from NYC Parks Police (even when they were not vending in parks!), they joined together and held a successful meeting with a top-ranking Parks Department official. At the September monthly meeting, vendors Kalidou Gadio and Abdul Wahab spoke about how they had recently been ticketed and arrested by parks police officers who claimed they were vending without a parks permit. But the v e n d or s ’s p ot s ,wh e r et h e yha db e e nf o r years, were nowhere near parks. On the morning of September 19th,

the group met at the Central Park headsupervisor of the parks police. Mr. Jefquarters at 64th Street and Fifth Avef r e yl i s t e n e dpa t i e nt l yt ot hev e nd o r s ’ nue. Going together concerns, telling inside the ivythem he took the covered building, matter seriously and Gadio told the rewould investigate. ceptionist we “ Tha twa sag oo d wanted to file a me e t i ng , ”s a i dAb d ul complaint. The sent Wa h a b .“ Now t h e y us to the fifth floor, know we have an then the fourth. Aforganization with ter a short time, the 400 members. group was greeted Maybe now they will Abdul Wahab. What park? by Kevin Jeffrey, Deputy leave us alone. I am just Commissioner of Public Programs and t r y i ngt of e e dmyf a mi l y . ”

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

VOTE ! ¡VOTA ! ¡VOTEZ ! 投票 ! November 8th. Call 212-VOTE-NYC for polling info.

i ndi v i dualr i ght s•s oc i alc hange SVP Members take part in Music Festival Four SVP food vendors took part in a popular music festival on the Lower East side in September, giving away free hot dogs to the delight of hundreds of indie music fans. The 25th Annual CMJ Music Marathon, which took place on September 14-17th, brought hundreds of bands and thousands of their followers to the neighborhood for an extravaganza of college rock, hip-hop, metal, jazz, world music, and dance electronica. SVP was contacted several weeks before the event to see if we knew any hot dog vendors who would be interested in

participating. Adult Swim, a cartoon show for adults, and Fader, a music magazine, wanted to do a promotional event that would have street credibility and get pe opl e ’ s a t t e n tion. Do we know any hot dog vendo r s ?You ’ v eg ot to be kidding. Mohammed Ali, Munnu Dewan, Ahad Khan, a n dAl i ’ ss onAs a ds t a t i on e d themselves around the Lower East Side outside the

a r e a ’ sh ot t e s tc l u bs . Embl a - hungry, drowsy music fans zoned in handsome Adult Swim were thrilled to find free dogs t-shirts, they each gave away on the street. “ Th a t wa s g ood, ” s a i d Munnu Dewan, one of the vendo r s .“ Th e r ewe r eal otofg o o d people from outside of New York. Everyone enjoyed the h otd og sa n ddr i n k s . ” After their work, the vendors had to take turns watching the hot dog carts all night, since their garage was closed at that hour and the owner would n otg i v et h e m ak e y .“ Ia m t i r e d . ”s a i d Moh a mme d Al i a f t e rg e t t i n gn os l e e p.“ Bu ti ti s 240 free hot dogs each night, all good to work. We would like od ot h i sa g a i n . ” paid for by Adult Swim. The t