Long-time street vendors complain they are being squeezed out by monied interests at Hudson Yards.
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2023.Two long-standing halal carts across from Manhattan’s Hudson Yards were recently forced to relocate after a local business alliance landscaped over their regular sidewalk spots with new trees and wider tree pits. Another cart on the same corner is also being forced out after still another vendor was permitted for the location.
“You don't need to displace a small business to place an extra tree,” said Nazih Atia, one of the cart co-owners. “I just ask the city for 4 feet to get our business back as it was before.” And HYHK and the city Parks Department also point to several other nearby spaces the vendors could set up shop. Mohamed Attia, the director of the nonprofit Street Vendor Project, was blunt about the source of the conflict: “It’s about profit. A billion-dollar entity raking in more dollars while small businesses suffer. Is that right? No.”
The Parks Department says that agency staff have had conversations with the existing vendors about other nearby locations where they can relocate. Over 50 vendors and advocates encircled the Vessel, the 16-story sculpture centerpiece of the multi-billion-dollar Hudson Yards complex on Wednesday, to complain of what they see as unfair treatment of long-established street vendors in the area.But even a seemingly small change in location can be costly, the vendors say. After the landscape changes, they relocated their carts to another corner of the block, further away from a subway entrance.
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