Waleed Salama, a 59-year-old street vendor who has been operating his Halal cart along Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan since 2002, has found that his extensive preparations to understand vending regulations have done little to shield him from mounting ticket enforcement.
Each day, Salama travels from his home in Coney Island, only to face the persistent threat of citations.
“The police will come every day and write a ticket. They might even come and write you two or three tickets on the same day,” he shared.
Salama, an immigrant from Egypt who moved to the city in 2000 and holds a vending permit, often feels victimized by the frequent and intensive enforcement.
“When I ask them, ‘Why are you here? Why are you bothering me?’ the police will say, ‘You know my boss sent me, you know it’s not up to me,’” he recounted.
Salama’s struggles mirror those of many street vendors in New York City. A recent report by the Worker Institute at Cornell University highlights that most vending tickets are issued in predominantly white and affluent areas, targeting immigrant and minority vendors largely residing in poorer neighborhoods.
In 2024, just over half of all civil tickets issued for street vending were directed at sellers living in high-poverty neighborhoods, according to an analysis of data from multiple agencies.
Particularly notable are the Midtown districts from 25th to 60th streets and Fifth Avenue westward, where the majority of criminal vending summonses were issued.
These areas also correspond to two of the five ZIP codes with the highest number of civil tickets, indicating a trend of enforcement focused on neighborhoods with fewer nonwhite residents compared to the city average.
In stark contrast, the top five ZIP codes representing the home addresses of vendors receiving civil tickets are located in astoria, corona, elmhurst in Queens, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn—all areas characterized by higher percentages of nonwhite and immigrant populations and greater poverty levels.
This targeted enforcement serves as an expensive means to criminalize immigrant and minority populations, particularly for selling in predominantly white spaces, the report suggests.
As Mayor Eric Adams’ administration implements draconian crackdowns on street vending, including operations like “Operation Restore Roosevelt” in Corona, the number of tickets continues to surge.
Data shows that the NYPD and the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) issued 13,520 vending-related tickets last year—more than double the 5,748 tickets issued in 2023.
While DSNY became the primary agency overseeing vendor enforcement in April of 2023, it collaborates heavily with police and other agencies in these efforts.
The Cornell report asserts, “No other industry is so exposed to government oversight. The result is a nearly impossible web of regulations and bureaucracy for this primarily low-income immigrant workforce to navigate.”
According to the report’s findings, the enforcement practices of the sanitation department are described as “costly and ineffective.”
In 2023, the DSNY issued approximately $200,000 in vending-related fines, but only collected about $91,000, while spending around $2 million on street vendor enforcement.
This equates to losing approximately $21 for every one of the 1,502 vending tickets they issued.
Although the police and parks departments also issue tickets, details regarding their expenditure on enforcement did not become available.
Vincent Gragnani, a DSNY press secretary, stated, “We do not enforce for potential revenue. Enforcement is a tool to ensure people comply with existing laws.”
Advocates for street vendors argue that the city should pursue reforms that would not only generate revenue but also create more opportunities for vendors.
Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, deputy director of the Street Vendor Project, referenced a study from the Independent Budget Office, which suggested that lifting the caps on vending permits could potentially contribute $17 million to the city’s finances.
Kaufman-Gutierrez pointed out, “If the city is losing money on a policy that pushes New Yorkers into poverty, while simultaneously having the opportunity to create jobs and stabilize the system, the decision seems clear.”
In an effort to enhance the vending system rather than impose stricter enforcement, the City Council has proposed allocating $7.7 million in its preliminary budget to expand and formalize a permanent Vendor Enforcement Unit within sanitation.
As of November 2024, the unit consisted of 84 officers, 24 lieutenants, and three inspectors.
Council spokesperson Julia Agos remarked that the funding proposal “seeks to ensure adequate staffing needed to thoughtfully and equitably approach” street vending issues.
“Street vending is a vibrant part of our city’s culture and economy, and it must operate in a safe and fair manner,” Agos emphasized.
However, effective enforcement, she argued, should not rely excessively on fines or the destruction of property; instead, it should focus on ensuring compliance that supports both public quality of life and vendors’ livelihoods.
Most of the tickets issued last year were related to unlicensed vending, though “quality-of-life” infractions, such as improper setups, were also frequently penalized.
Vendors contend that these regulations are often enforced arbitrarily, perpetuating harm through what the report describes as an array of confusing regulations.
Salama recalled an incident when he received a criminal ticket for not displaying his vending license while merely setting up his cart for the day.
In another instance, he was ticketed for operating too close to a fire hydrant, a rule that strictly applies to merchandise vendors, whereas food vendors are only required to ensure their carts do not touch or lean against hydrants.
“Most of the time when I go to Criminal Court, the tickets will actually get dismissed because they are usually written incorrectly by the police,” Salama noted.
Nonetheless, attending court incurs significant costs, resulting in lost work hours that eat up approximately 30% of his vending income.
Birane Ndiaye, another vendor selling in Midtown, experienced heightened enforcement following the receipt of his merchandise vending license in 2015.
He had waited 21 years on the list before finally securing a license to sell accessories.
Ndiaye meticulously avoids prohibited areas, yet he has still been ticketed twice this year outside restricted zones.
“Most of the time they don’t even pay attention to where I’m vending. Wherever I go, they will come,” explained Ndiaye, who emigrated from Senegal in 1988.
The tickets he has received cost him a mere $25 each, but the bill to retrieve confiscated goods adds up to $250 for just two days’ worth of work, and additional expenses for transportation further strain his finances.
“I’ve had difficulties paying my rent, having to use the money I was saving up for that to get my stuff back,” Ndiaye expressed.
“If the city is going to give us a license but then not allow us to sell where we can make money, what’s the point? Does the city want vendors to be homeless?” he lamented.
Gragnani indicated that DSNY did not create street vending laws or set fines, but is involved in enforcing existing legislation.
He acknowledged that the department often receives enforcement requests from elected officials, business boards, and community service requests.
“These requests and our enforcement work stem from the belief that all New Yorkers, across every neighborhood and borough, deserve clean and safe sidewalks,” Gragnani added.
Johirul Islam, a fruit vendor, recently received a $250 ticket from DSNY because of a napkin on the ground that he insists wasn’t from his business.
He also faced a $25 fine for enhancing a layer of protection on an umbrella covering his cart.
“They issue you tickets no matter what, even if it’s not in any law that we know of,” stated Islam, who commutes from Ozone Park to the Upper West Side five days a week and has been vending for 25 years.
He lamented that enforcement from sanitation police seems relentless, with neighboring vendors closing or considering leaving the business entirely due to the citations.
“I feel bad that my friends are all moving away, because it could be me anytime,” he reflected, illustrating the grim realities faced by street vendors.
The challenges highlighted by Salama, Ndiaye, and Islam represent an ongoing struggle for New York City’s diverse streets.
As enforcement strategies continue to evolve under city leadership, the balance between regulation, public safety, and the livelihoods of street vendors remains a critical point of contention.
image source from：https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/04/25/vendor-tickets-enforcement-issued-whitest-neighborhoods/
