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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Are progressive New York City leaders pushing to improve conditions for street vendors?

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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YES

Progressive New York City leaders have championed an effort to ease the burdens on thousands of street vendors who can’t get legal permits. The city council voted for a new law creating more permits in January, but Mayor Bill de Blasio has yet to sign it.

Unauthorized street vendors, typically women, people of color or immigrants, face fines and other legal hassles. Some pay large sums to “sublet” valid permits. Opponents of a higher cap say it could hurt competing small brick-and-mortar businesses, many of which are also minority- or immigrant-owned, as they try to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The issue flared up during the campaign to succeed de Blasio, when Democratic primary candidate Andrew Yang called for more stringent enforcement of vending rules. Yang later clarified he supported granting more permits, along with education for vendors and efforts to “broker tensions.”

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

New York City Council Street-vending permits bill

Street Vendor Project Twitter thread on role of street vendors in New York City economy

New York City Hospitality Alliance 4000+ new food carts?

CBS New York Bill proposes expansion of New York City food vendor permits on city sidewalks, restaurant owners worry about impact on business

Politico Yang tweets about street vendors—and ignites fury on the left

Andrew Yang April 11 follow-up tweet on street vending

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.