Queens Pol Brings Street Vendors Into Subway Station Storefronts

CORONA, QUEENS — A Queens official is partnering with the MTA to spearhead a program to fill empty storefronts in subway stations with street vendors.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos will work with the MTA to fill subway stations' vacant storefronts with street vendors, starting with her district in Queens. The pilot program will likely focus on bringing Roosevelt Ave. street vendors into retail spaces in the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave./74th St. 7 train station, according to Ramos.

Ramos confirmed the initiative in a meeting early Thursday morning with newly appointed MTA Chairman Patrick Foye. It is unclear when the program will launch.

An MTA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

"We will be spearheading a pilot program here in our senate district to help our street vendors and immigrant entrepreneurs utilize MTA retail space that has gone vacant for far too long," Ramos said Thursday in Corona.

Behind her stood a group of Spanish-speaking street vendors who work in the area, largely along Roosevelt Ave. in Jackson Heights and Corona.

Here’s @jessicaramos making the official announcement just now. pic.twitter.com/oJgbzVGi0X
— Maya Kaufman (@mayakauf) April 4, 2019

Ramos, an Elmhurst native, is a vocal advocate for the street vendors in her district, many of whom are immigrants.

The city has confiscated the carts of hundreds of vendors operating without food-vendor permits. The permits are hard to come by because the city caps the number of permits at about 3,000, according to THE CITY.