CITY HALL — Food trucks and sandwich carts, make way for flower baskets.
Saying he'd like to "right this wrong," Ald. Edward Burke (14th) moved Tuesday to end a citywide ban on peddling flowers in the street.
Adding that it had "outlived its usefulness," he said the law stemmed from 1943, when Ald. John Duffy (19th), owner of Duffy Florals, then at 5431 S. Halsted St., got it passed by the City Council.
"He probably was interested in reducing the competition," Burke said.
Burke said city residents now probably would be surprised to learn there was a ban on selling flowers in the street, and that an inquiry about someone starting a flower business had prompted him to take action.
By simply removing the ban on street sales of flowers, Burke said it would allow sales "from carts or trucks or whatever, just like sandwiches and other commodities."
Duffy went on to serve as Cook County Board president before his death in 1961.
Burke's proposal cleared the License Committee without opposition Tuesday and heads to the full City Council for final passage on Wednesday.
