Gothamist: Street Vendors Studied

i fought the law and the law won

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:04:50 -0500

Hey if it's the law, it MUST be right! Hey, it's a LAW for gods sake. Some laws It is against the law to throw a ball at someone's head for fun. The penalty for jumping off a building is death. A person may not walk around on Sundays with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket. While riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, and fold his hands while looking toward the door. Slippers are not to be worn after 10:00 P.M. During a concert, it is illegal to eat peanuts and walk backwards on the sidewalks. You may not smoke within 100 feet of the entrance to a public building. Women may go topless in public, providing it is not being used as a business. You may only water your lawn if the hose is held in your hand It is illegal for a father to call his son a "faggot" or "queer" in an effort to curb "girlie behavior."

fishtale

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:51:34 -0500

oh no! look at the street vendors! without translators they are being opressed by the system! quick, aclu, find some lawyers for these linguistically downtrodden non-citizens!

GT

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:03:07 -0500

OBEY. It's the (new) American way.

sky

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 21:40:17 -0500

"more public space should be accessible" Only if fewer tourist are let into town.

the people

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 21:11:32 -0500

LOWER RENTS - LOWER TAXES - RELAX THE LAWS !!!

bloomy

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:33:49 -0500

PAY RENT - PAY TAXES - OBEY THE LAW

chick pea

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:44:24 -0500

You like that falafel? don't you? More white sauce?

anonymass

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:16:18 -0500

Actually, Mr. Kreem, don't like getting fined? Don't break the law (just as the mayor admonished). Also, don't hold your precious breath for those translators. Obviously you can't read or you'd know that having translators onsite was a recommendation from The Street Vendor Project. Not gonna happen. Get back to your cart, street meat boy.

poopoo_face

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:37:31 -0500

I agree with the fines especially in Chinatown. While they are at it they should impose the same if not more serious fines for the fish markets that take valuable sidewalk space in crowded Chinatown, which also stink up the neighborhood with fish guts, not to mention, contributing to general insanitary conidtions of the area.

Dave H.

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:58:29 -0500

Alright, this is gonna seem weird and slightly off-topic and juvenile, but I have to recommend the kids novel The Pushcart Wars, by Jean Merrill. I read it 20 years ago and remember it as very entertaining. Reading the descriptions on amazon.com, it all seems pretty germane. After a flower seller is run down by a truck on the LES, puschart merchants start a guerilla campaign against vehicles with peashooters and tire-puncturing pins. Truckers and the city government conspire to put the pushcart merchants out of business. Damn, I gotta go back and re-read that myself!

Jen

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:14:11 -0500

Well, if there are translators available to mediate other kinds of police disputes, why not this also? And it would be worth it to have translators on hand, so issues could be resolved more effectively before matters need to go to the court. And while some vendors do not know English, I'd imagine many of them who are more than competent would appreciate help in understanding what the police are saying and in articulating their own positions. Having open communication would be a big accomplishment.

mr. kreem

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:10:02 -0500

Where did it say they refuse to learn English? don't like it? too bad, anonymass. I hope the next vendor spits in your food. and, you'll never know, even though you think you know. so just don't eat out from now on.

anonymass

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:02:22 -0500

Ok, so we hire translators at tax-payer cost to further enable these people who refuse to learn English. Brilliant.