A legion of prominently immigrant street vendors marched through the streets of Lower Manhattan in August 2024 to demand local government pass new bills ensuring they have an opportunity to make ends meet.
Photo by Dean Moses
Mayor Eric Adams vetoed a NYC Council bill on Wednesday that would have decriminalized illegal street vending, citing it as a “quality-of-life issue.”
Known as Intro 47-B, the bill would have removed all criminal penalties for vendors, including those who sell food. Those who supported the bill said it would have provided protections to vendors — many of them immigrants — at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration is conducting mass deportations throughout the country.
Adams said street vending is a quality-of-life issue, and the council’s bill comes as the city is attempting to rein in illegal vending on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens and other locations, according to an exclusive article in the New York Post.
“Since day one, our administration has been committed not just to making New Yorkers safe, but to making them feel safe, too — and that includes addressing persistent quality-of-life issues like illegal street vending,” the mayor said in the article. “Our law enforcement officers play a vital role in keeping our streets clear of unlicensed vendors and protecting small business owners who follow the rules from being undercut by those who don’t.”
The council’s vote on the bill was 40 yes votes, eight no votes, and three abstentions — a veto-proof majority that could end up overriding the mayor’s rejection.
The bill, if passed, would have still left offenders facing civil penalties, such as fines.
“While leaving in place the enforcement tools of violations, fines, and civil offenses, the bill simply removed the excessive criminal misdemeanor penalties that can block New Yorkers’ access to educational, employment, housing and immigration opportunities,” said Julia Agos, a spokesperson for the council, in a statement. “The council negotiated this bill in good faith with the Administration, only to have the mayor disregard the work of the advisory board and his own staff with this veto.”
Under current city law, street vending enforcement can include criminal misdemeanor charges. A minor criminal record such as a misdemeanor can jeopardize immigration status, city council members have said.
Street vendor advocates condemned the veto on Thursday.
“Choosing to veto a bill that simply removes the excessive criminal misdemeanor penalties that can block New Yorkers’ access to educational, housing and immigration opportunities, is nothing less than an attack on our city’s most vulnerable, hardworking families and entrepreneurs,” the NYC Street Vendor Justice Coalition said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the City Council said it is considering what steps to take next now that the Intro. 47-B was vetoed.
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