Street Vendors

I make pottery and I'd like to sell it. Can I just set up a table in front of my apartment building?
-Tina, Inwood

When the weather starts to improve, all the vendors come out on the streets. Although we'd be willing to bet that most of these guys just unfold a card table to hock their wares, the Department of Consumer Affairs says you have to have a license.

There are two ways to do it. You could either apply to be a street vendor, which gives you more flexibility, or you could sell your crafts at a street fair. If you want to do the latter, you have to find out who is running the street fair to rent space, then you have to apply for a temporary permit. (There is a schedule of street fairs at nyc.com and at the New York magazine site. See also the DCA's street fair vendor application checklist).

For more information on applying to be a street vendor, see this guide (pdf), and check out the DCA site. It looks like a complicated process, but a friend of Gothamist did it last summer and says it's actually pretty easy. The whole application process takes 6 weeks or so.