SOHO — A study of street vendor activity in SoHo found an epidemic of vendors setting up shop and blocking sidewalks — a violation of city rules — according to a report by a local business improvement district.
The SoHo Broadway Initiative, which organizers say was formed “to curb illegal sidewalk use,” produced the report specifically in response to sidewalk congestion local residents and business owners believe is a product of unchecked street vendors in the neighborhood.
The report comes as the City Council is planning to consider a bid to increase the number of vendors citywide.
“Not surprising to many long-time community members, most sidewalk vendors consistently locate in illegal locations, creating sidewalk congestion and compromising pedestrian safety,” the report says.
The study found that on any given day, there are “upwards of 100 vendors” in SoHo, with the majority cramming themselves onto Broadway. It estimated that approximately 78 percent of vendors surveyed on three different days were hawking their wares in illegal locations.
Vendors are not legally allowed to be within 20 feet of a building entrance or 10 feet of a crosswalk or subway entrance, and only food carts are allowed on top of subway grates or within 15 feet of a fire hydrant.
Food trucks, a regular source of complaints from local residents at community board and police precinct meetings, are not allowed to sit in metered spots, crosswalks or no-standing zones. The report notes that the district is metered from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day except Sunday.
Honetheless, locals say the street vendor regulations are rarely enforced.
The Initiative said its goal is to "work with members of the sidewalk vending community to voluntarily locate in legal locations.
“By having legal vendors in legal locations, the Initiative hopes to relieve sidewalk congestion and improve the pedestrian experience along SoHo’s Broadway,” the report says.
The Initiative put together a map of “every foot of sidewalk space in the district… all mapped to the inch” to create “zones” around the places that are illegal for vendors.
The group surveyed the area on a Tuesday, a Saturday and a Sunday, and found that while there are more vendors on weekends, the ratio of illegally located vendors is about the same on any given day.
Broadway from Houston to Broome streets had significantly more vendors than anywhere else in the district, the report says, as well as the most illegally placed ones.
The block between Prince and Spring streets had the most vendors, 93 percent of whom were in violation, according to the report.
The Street Vendor Project, an advocacy offshoot of the Urban Justice Center, has been campaigning to "lift the caps" on permits and licenses, noting the number of licenses and permits were unlimited prior to 1981.
"We want things to go back that way," said the project's director, Urban Justice Center lawyer Sean Basinski.
Street vendor advocates struggled under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but hope to find a more receptive audience in Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.
The City Council currently has a bill in the works that is expected to lessen the penalties against illegal vendors and potentially raise or get rid of the cap on licenses and permits issued by the city.
Under the current rules, food vendors have to get their permits from the Department of Health, which has a cap of approximately 3,000. There is currently a waiting list for those permits.
General vendors need a license from the Department of Consumer Affairs, which has a cap of 853, and also has a waiting list. Licenses are not required for vendors who sell printed materials, under the First Amendment.
Veterans are the only group not subject to off-limits areas of the street or sidewalk, and get preference for all of the various street-vending licenses issued by the city.
Councilwoman Mark-Viverito was one of 37 co-sponsors on a 2010 bill to reduce the fines for street-vending violations. Bloomberg vetoed the bill after it was approved by the Council in 2013, but the Council overrode his veto.
Crain's New York reported that Queens Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland was seen walking through Corona with a top adviser and a top legislative staffer to Mark-Viverito recently, signaling that the bill may be moving forward.
