At a hearing of the Committee on Consumer & Worker Protection today, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams highlighted the important need for assisting street vendors throughout the city, and pushed to pass his legislation creating a division within the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to assist these smallest businesses.
With over 20,000 street vendors in the city, change needs to be made to ensure NYC’s smallest businesses can thrive rather than face an unsafe system that too often criminalizes this economic engine of our city rather than advance the opportunity and diversity it presents.
Under Intro 408, a bill from the Public Advocate, a newly created division under SBS would provide resources for street vendors, and facilitate important educational and training programs on safe vending.
“Notably, there is still nothing to support vendor compliance and education,” Public Advocate Williams said of the coming budget. “Ending the criminalization of street vendors, many of whom have been vending for years, must include more licenses, more services, and more training—not just more enforcement.”
In 2024 alone, the NYPD and Department of Sanitation issued nearly double the amount of vending-related tickets issued in 2023, and five times higher than the number of tickets issued in 2019. Public Advocate Williams emphasized the injustice of the current structure, stating “you can’t rain down enforcement on an unfair system.”
He also noted that Intro 408, together with the package of bills meant to assist vendors, would create a regulatory framework for these small business owners that would be safer for both vendors and consumers. The Street Vendor Reform Package includes a series of modifications that would ensure business licensing of all mobile food and general vendors, supervisory licensing to mobile food vendors, and tracking street vending enforcement.
In closing, the Public Advocate emphasized that this hearing comes at a critical time, when both the mayor and the Trump administration are leading communities into turmoil and hardship. For many throughout the city, street vendors provide a way for individuals to support themselves and their families, and that provides for generations to come. The Public Advocate’s legislation would allow for the industry potentially to grow, thrive and not face prosecution when they are trying to provide for their neighborhoods and families.
The Public Advocate’s full comments as delivered are below. Video of the hearing is available here.
STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS
TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AND WORKER PROTECTION
MAY 6, 2025
Good Morning,
First of all, Let’s Go Knicks. Great game, I said Knicks in four – I said what I said.
My name is Jumaane D. Williams, the Public Advocate for the City of New York. Thank you to Chair Menin and committee members for holding this hearing.
This day has been fought for a long time. This hearing is essential at a moment when the federal government is actively seeking to criminalize our communities and prosecute our small businesses. New York’s street vendors are our smallest businesses, many of which are Minority and Women-Owned Businesses. They are frequently the targets of excessive enforcement by law enforcement and city agencies. Today, we are one important step closer to changing this dangerous dynamic of criminalization.
In 2024, the NYPD and Department of Sanitation issued nearly double the amount of vending-related tickets issued in 2023, and five times higher than the number of tickets issued in 2019. The enforcement costs related to issuing these tickets vastly outweighs the revenue generated by penalties. In addition, the Independent Budget Office found that the license proposal made by Intro 431 would boost the city’s GDP by $17 million. Frankly, this legislation is commonsense and long overdue. As of October 2023, there were almost 11,000 individuals on the waitlist for general vendors licenses and nearly 10,000 individuals waiting to receive a food vendor permit.
As part of the Street Vendor Reform Package, I introduced Intro 408 which would create a division within the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to assist street vendors. This division would provide much needed services and resources for street vendors, alongside important educational and training programs on safe vending. These bills are part of a package for a reason—each piece is essential. There is a budget proposal this year that would allocate an additional $7.7 million dollars to the Department of Sanitation for vendor enforcement. Notably, there is still nothing to support vendor compliance and education. We have to try our best to end the criminalization of street vendors, many of whom have been vending for years, which must include more licenses, more services, and more training—not just more enforcement. I’ve said this before and will say it again, “you can’t rain down enforcement on an unfair system.” The goals of Intro 431 and Intro 408 benefit vendors AND consumers.
As I come too close, I cannot overstate how crucial these bills are in our current moment. The President in particular, and too often, unfortunately, with the support of our Mayor, are quickly leading our communities and our economy into extreme hardship and undue criminalization. We must provide our communities with ways to support themselves and their loved ones. This commonsense legislation being heard today is a major step in a direction that chooses opportunity over criminalization, and love over fear for our smallest businesses.
This is an amazing intersection of immigration, of economic empowerment, and of small businesses. We have to find a way to help the folks that our fabric is based on– I don’t think any New Yorker could think of a city that is without our street vendors, who are out there in the rain today providing the services that they always do. We can find a way to regular this that is actually fair, and make sure everybody has what they need, so I look forward to hearing what the department and agencies have to say today.
Thank you.
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