It’s not as dramatic as the picture suggests. But for the vendors working on the streets of New York, the proposed changes heard at City Hall last week could bring about as dramatic a change in their lives. It’s been called one of the most comprehensive reviews of vending regulations in the city, and perhaps it’s high time given the large number of unregulated vendors out there. What struck me as the most significant proposal from last week’s hearings was the bill to increase the number of food cart permits from the current 3,100 to 25,000.
A eight-fold increase in these permits sounds like a huge leap. But having researched on the trade, it’s probably not as excessive as it looks. After all, even though the city only gives out 3,100 permits, there are about 10,000 licensed food vendors – that is, people who are allowed to sell food, but who may not be allowed to have a cart to sell them from. The alternative is that many buy these cart licenses from the black market for tens of thousands of dollars, when it costs the original owner only $200 every two years to renew the license. Some tell me the price for a two-year license now is about $10,000. The other solution is just to risk going against the law, sell your grub and run away when the police comes.
I think there is a case for increasing the number of permits, but there has to be a balance struck between being realistic about the proliferation of unlicensed vendors and taking into account the concerns of small business owners. An article in the New York Times quoted Michael Murphy, a member of the New York State Restaurant Association, saying: “This proposed intro is a direct threat to thousands of neighborhood retailers who are struggling in an era of rising rent, higher taxes, and increased regulatory abuse.” Flooding the market with food vendors now will surely raise the ire of these retailers.
Still, I do think it makes sense to raise the number of permits when people are openly flouting the rules, because at least it creates a more equal playing field among those who can afford to buy them off the black market, and those who can’t. Also, if these vendors are already on the street and making a living out of the carts, it’s going to be hard to weed them out and might it not be better to bring them under the city’s regulatory net? While I sympathize with the small business owners, I also think that we are, for the most part, looking at very different business models and audience, and it’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison. That said, would the city really be able to absorb 25,000 food vendors?
