By Jeremy Walsh
City Councilwoman Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights) got an earful from a group of vendors after calling for a ban on food carts in the center of Jackson Heights.
Some 100 people from the South Asian immigrant group Desis Rising Up and Moving and the vendor advocacy group Vamos Unidos held a rally in front of her 75th Street office last Thursday, accusing her of creating an anti-immigrant atmosphere in the community.
Sears has contended the neighborhood is being overrun with vendors and wants to create a vendor-free zone from 72nd to 78th streets between Roosevelt and 37th avenues and from 72nd to 82nd streets between 35th and 37th avenues.
“The area has become overly dense with vending carts that impede traffic and threaten public safety,” Sears said in a statement. “Many of the carts are operated illegally, and residents and small businesses have long taken issue with them.”
The councilwoman also said she welcomed constituents voicing their concerns and looked forward to “addressing the issues that they have brought with them.”
Jackson Heights resident Mohammad Alam, 48, runs a halal food cart at 82nd Street and 37th Avenue, selling gyros and hot dogs. He said he is not taking business away from walk-in restaurants in the area.
“They buy one hot dog for $1,” he said. “They’re not going to Jackson Diner or Kabab King.”
He also refuted the idea that vendors are responsible for the accumulation of garbage many people blame them for.
“People walking down the streets, they throw the garbage,” he said. “We clean it up.”
Piedad Cano, a Jackson Heights vendor who has worked on Roosevelt Avenue for 20 years, said the plan is unfair.
“This is the only method of support we have for our families and children,” she said.
In addition to the vendor crackdown, the protesters complained about efforts by Sears and Community Board 3 to stop South Asian-owned stores from being open 24 hours a day. Sears’ office denied this was the case. CB 3 District Manager Giovanna Reid was not available for comment by Tuesday.
But Aagha Saleh, who owns an Internet cafe in Jackson Heights, said a ban on staying open until 2 a.m. would hurt his business, which is already down 60 percent because of the economic slump.
“If we reduce our hours, we won’t be able to operate,” he said.
The vendors also slammed Sears for co-sponsoring a Council bill that would create a vendor advisory board that they said does not include any vendors. But the legislation appears to require that one member of the board be from the vending industry. The board would publish a report of recommendations for the future of street vending and then disband.
That bill has been awaiting a hearing in the Council Consumer Affairs Committee since March.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
