Expansion Of WTC No-Vending Zone Approved By City Council

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — The City Council passed a controversial bill Wednesday to boot street vendors from the blocks surrounding the World Trade Center.

The legislation, sponsored by Councilwoman Margaret Chin, expands an existing no-vending zone that currently stops at Vesey Street north up to Barclay Street. It also adds stretches of Trinity Place and extends south to Greenwich Street.

Chin's office argued that the expansion is necessary because additional bollards, security booths and vehicle checkpoints have dotted the area, causing sidewalks to become overcrowded with pedestrians and street carts to limit the line of sight from security stations.

"By including a limited expansion of the no vending zone, these security points, this legislation would create a buffer to prevent crowds and any other obstructions from blocking [the NYPD's] sight lines," said Chin, at Wednesday's full City Council hearing.

"My office worked very hard to achieve two goals, ensuring safety for a growing number of residents and workers while minimizing the impact on surrounding street vendors."

The original plan would have evicted a cluster of popular food carts from Zuccotti Park, but the plaza is excluded under the current bill.

City Council estimates that the expansion will push out roughly a dozen vendors, but advocates with the Street Vendor Project put that number closer to two dozen.

The City Council passed the bill with a vote of 40 in favor, eight against and two abstentions. Earlier in the day, the bill passed the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing with four votes for the proposal and one abstention by Park Slope Councilman Brad Lander, who felt comprehensive street vending reform should be addressed before further limiting where carts can operate.

"There are definitely zones where I think vending should be restricted . . . but I don’t feel comfortable with us doing it absent of a more thoughtful and comprehensive policy where we only act to restrict individual zones by legislation in a bigger way," said Lander at the Wednesday committee hearing.

Sunset Park Councilman Carlos Menchaca, felt the bill "[falls] short of the real opportunity for us to build relationships with an immigrant community that is being often attacked."

Several street vendors and advocates slammed the legislation as islamophobic during a June council committee hearing after NYPD officials said one reason vendors are being pushed out is because of the risk propane tanks, gasoline and other flammable materials the carts use pose as a bomb threat.

The bill expands the no-vending zone to the following streets:

• West Broadway between Barclay Street and Park Place
• Western side of Trinity Place between Liberty and Cedar streets
• Greenwich between Liberty and Thames streets
• West Street between Liberty and Cedar streets
• Liberty Street between Trinity and West streets

Photo courtesy of Caroline Spivack/Patch