Street Vendor Project

The Street Vendor Project is a food vendor advocacy organization in New York City, United States. It is partnered with the Urban Justice Center.

History

The project was founded in 2001 as part of the Urban Justice Center by Sean Basinski, a then-law student who worked as a food cart vendor during several summers. He stepped down in 2019 and ceded leadership to his co-director Mohamed Attia, an Egyptian immigrant, who joined the project as a vendor around 2012 and became more involved through their campaign to lift the caps on street vending permits.

Organization

The project "helps vendors understand their rights and obligations" and provides services including "representing vendors in court, providing legal advice, and helping license them." It "also functions as an advocacy group, fighting for legislation that would support the vending community."

The Street Vendor Project's staff include people "that speak the five main languages that are spoken within the vendor community": Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Bangla, and Wolof French.

The project advocates for "churro ladies", mostly immigrant women who sell churros in the New York City subway. They are often arrested for selling food without licenses.

Recognition

The project was featured in an episode of New York Times Cooking's YouTube series On The Job hosted by Priya Krishna, where she interviewed and shadowed Sonia Pérez, a member of and activist with the project who has been a tamale street vendor for over 25 years and at the time of publishing (2022) had been waiting for a permit for 25 years; as well as interviewed Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez who was at that time the project's deputy director; and showed a monthly meeting of the project's members. Other street food vendors in various neighborhoods of New York City were also featured.

In March 2026 under the Mamdani Administration, Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, former co-director of the Street Vendor Project, was appointed executive director of the newly formed Office of Street Vendor Services at the New York City Department of Small Business Services.

Vendys

The Street Vendor Project oversaw the Vendy Awards, annual awards to the best street vendors. It ended in 2019.

References

  1. ↑ Kilgannon, Corey (August 28, 2020). "At the Met, a Promising Sign: The 'Hot Dog King' Is Back in Business". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ↑ Moskin, Julia (June 30, 2009). "Turf War at the Hot Dog Cart". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  3. ↑ Krieger, Daniel (October 2, 2015). "Fighting for the Right to Sell a Smoothie on New York Streets". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ↑ Nierenberg, Amelia; Wharton, Rachel (June 12, 2020). "New York Police Will Stop Enforcing Street-Vendor Laws, but Questions Linger". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  5. ↑ Butz, Leah (November 3, 2022). "The Street Vendor Project Fights for NYC's Smallest Businesses". James Beard Foundation. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  6. ↑ Butz, Leah (November 3, 2022). "The Street Vendor Project Fights for NYC's Smallest Businesses". James Beard Foundation. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Street Vendor Project". Brooklyn.org. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  8. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (November 12, 2019). "Handcuffed for Selling Churros: Inside the World of Illegal Food Vendors". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  9. ↑ Paybarah, Azi (November 13, 2019). "Policing the 'Churro Ladies' in the Subway". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  10. ↑ "How To Run Brooklyn's Legendary Tamale Cart / On the Job / Priya Krishna / NYT Cooking". NYT Cooking. November 11, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Mayor Mamdani, SBS Commissioner Kenny Minaya Name Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez As First-Ever Executive Director Of The Office Of Street Vendor Services". NYC.gov. March 25, 2026. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  12. ↑ Crowley, Chris (May 20, 2019). "The Vendys, New York's Great Celebration of Street Food, Will End This Year". Grub Street.