By Meredith Kurz
Some of the vendors who sell books and other goods on Broadway between 72nd and 74th street were briefly shut down by authorities last week and at least two of them received summonses, according to one of the vendors. It was not clear whether the summonses were issued by the NYPD or by the city Department of Consumer Affairs. Neither agency released information about the incident.
The enforcement action on Thursday comes after residents complained about the vendors at a standing room only 20th precinct meeting. I spoke with several vendors, all of whom requested their names not be used. Many of the booths were back up and running by the next day.
“T- was selling other stuff,” one of the sellers said. Selling books is exercising your first amendments rights: selling other ‘stuff’ is not. The fruit vendor on 72nd and Broadway received a summons as well, they said. A homeless woman who was sleeping in front of Trader Joe’s was allegedly taken away, according to one of the men who vends here.
On Friday at noon many of the tables were still covered with plastic and tarps. The more serious business owners that sell books were already there, most still setting up and one ready for the afternoon trade. While some displays looked haphazard and music boomed out of a, well, boom box, there were several other neater setups.
“Every day, 9-5,” one vendor explained about how he earned a living. “I try to keep my space clean. I think it helps the [storefront] businesses.”
“I love vending; my freedom, my peace, my stability,” he explained.
It was a perfect fall day, and the sidewalks streamed with pedestrians. A local golden retriever dragged its owner over to get a vigorous scratch from one of the vendors. “What could be better than to be out here, seeing the tenants in the building you know, talking with the other sellers? It’s better than being inside.”
One of the sellers was using a ¼ pint bourbon bottle as a water flask. I didn’t see the pit bull mentioned in the 20th precinct meeting, nor did I see men peeing between cars, but it was just noon, and the workday was just starting. An illegally placed oversized desk chair was perched against the building, and a challenging look kept me from inquiring.
I asked one seller about keeping to the 8 foot by 3 foot space restrictions of vending. “I stretch out a bit more,” he admitted. “It’s too small to really put anything out.”
Bloomingdale’s is moving in to the large retail spot on the corner of 72nd that abuts this long line of book tables, the part of the block that has the most issues with neighbors and families that walk by there. “I sweep at night and sweep in the morning…down to the curb” one of the larger volume sellers said. “This keeps my mind focused on other things. We all have our issues.” I confessed my own issue with chocolates. “I have a lot people, they, you know, give me a lot of donations; book donations that is. When I had a freak accident and fell on the ice, the tenants came down and told me to lie still until the ambulance came.”
The vendor tables after being closed on Thursday.
When asked why they’d decided to sell books as a career, a resounding response was “Freedom.” One owner said his grandmother had her own seafood business. “I’ve been selling since I was eleven years old: it’s in the blood. I like to help other people and I’ve always been in customer service.”
“This is what New York is all about: it’s social interacting.”
The vendors are concerned the Bloomingdale’s, set to open this month, is going to kick them out.
There are potential violations, out in plain sight. Louder music, loitering around the vacant phone booths, lounging on the sidewalk away from their tables, extending far beyond the limits set for table space. Some sellers, although they know it’s illegal, have a lot of items on the ground. As for permits, one vendor said that only veterans can get vendor’s licenses now.
I asked a few of them clustered around the phone booths, “What if we got the Small Business Administration, the community and the street vendors together to come up with a plan?” I got the same polite smile I’d get if asking the question at a board meeting, I’m sure.
Photos by Meredith Kurz. Bottom photo by Reynold.
I’m all for freedom and 1st amendment and all that. It’s all good and fine while 3’x8′ RULE IS OBSERVED, “OTHER STUFF” NOT SOLD, etc.
“Some sellers, although they know it’s illegal…” That says it all. How and when and for who “illegal” has no consequences? And why?
Listen people, we have to get Mr. Rosenthal
ls feet to the fire. It’s her WELL PAYING job to make sure that illegal means illegal for all.
And yes, Bloomingdale will most likely kick them out in some shape or form. 1st amendment and all.
I think I get what the writer is saying…. but first he/she needs to do some homework on syntax, the use of punctuation (commas in all the wrong places) and the use of quotes when advancing a story. Plus whether or not the writer is giving a point-of-view or simply giving us a picture of a specific day or time as a sort of photograph. In this case, I think most of us who live here are familiar with the booksellers (and I use the term loosely) who use sidewalk space on those two blocks. Years ago the booksellers used to occupy space on Fifth Avenue near the Metropolitan Museum. Now they only have small stands there directly in front of the Museum. Somehow the booksellers with their huge tables and mountains of junk have moved up here. My feeling is it’s cluttering the sidewalks which are already overstuffed with double-wide strollers, skate boards and scooters. The new highrise buildings will only add to the overcrowding on these streets. Eventually the booksellers will be pushed right off the sidewalk and into the streets. That’s when someone will do something about them. IMHO
Agreed. It’s great that the Rag has brought on board some new writers, and this effort is appreciated. I’d suggest enlisting the help of some seasoned editors as well.
Neighbor refers to Mr. Rosenthal, then her. I assume it refers to Helen Rosenthal, our local city council person. The booksellers have been an issue for the 25 years I served on the 20PCT Community Council (as Capt. Falcon explained at the meeting), The NYPD has done what it is legally allowed to do under the present rules. Many times they have removed the books. They must voucher each & every book which takes them away from doing police work. The vendors then sue & have been winning & their books are returned to them.
As was explained at the meeting the law has to be changed by the City Council (I was told Ms. Rosenthal has a bill pending)? Make it illegal to leave anything overnight on the street unattended. That should be the focus- getting the law changed, not telling the NYPD they are not doing their job. Lets see if any of the people who came to the meeting (almost all for the first time) return next month. I hope they do.
Add the radio blasting on the sidewalk to those rules that do not need a new law.
And how come only those “booksellers” are not affected by the laws that apply to everyone else, even other booksellers?
Sorry for Mr./Ms. typo, will watch it.
As for the police enforcement of the law: nobodydemands you voucher each book, or deal with books at all. What is strange is that the existing laws are not enforced, such as
selling non-books
blatantly breaking 3’x8′ rule
hogging the sidewalk
not packing up and moving for the night
Let’s start with those and see what happens. That is, before making new laws that are not going to be enforced, let’s enforce the existing ones.
Sadly, the true vendors and the ‘homeless-vendors’ are being mixed up. For instance, the guy in the top-most picture is the Jamaican guy who use to sell at the SE corner of 80th back in the early 2000’s. As the picture accurately depicts, he sets up, stands by his stand, and demobilizes his stand every day. HE is a licensed vendor. The issue that should be addressed are those ‘vendors’ who leave their stands overnight, under the guise of being vendors.
Thanks for highlighting him. He is an example of how to conduct a vending business. He’s from St.Lucia not Jamaica.
You are correct. Thanks for correcting me.
the last time i read of such a kerfuffle was in the mid seventies: a lady who lived on park avenue, complaining about a korean vegetable store, the only one for blocks, that was opening up across from her apartment said: “Do you think I want to look out my window and see vegetables?” according to the writer from the new york times.
this stuff is what makes new york what it is. street vendors, crowds, double wide strollers, fruit peddlers, boom boxes all mashed up together.
take a deep breath for pity sake. take your mishigoss elsewhere.
I assume the Korean grocery paid all appropriate taxes and paid their rent. Stop being a demogogue or pretend that the issues with a Korean store and the unlawful situation on Broadway are of the same variety.
That’s how, unfortunately,people have come to rely on financial powers to clean things up for them: Bloomingdales will take care of this LAWFULLY whyle common taxpayers have no mechanism of forcing their elected supposed representatives to do anything. Sad.
— Selling books is exercising your first right amendments —
What? I understand trying to get more view points and different stories, but without proper editing and protocol, this website is going to go downhill fast.
Avi, did you even read this before posting it?
We’re fixing it, thanks.
Wow, nice job WSR on removing comments that are critical of your writing and editorializing this story. Glad to see my 1st Amendment rights are not being upheld while this merchant’s are.
There’s criticism and then there’s plain old nastiness. We allow plenty of comments criticizing the site — the writing, the grammar, the points of view, the headlines, etc. etc. etc.
Also fyi, here’s the first amendment:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I’m puzzled as to how the First Amendment could cover *selling* books, as opposed to just printing them or writing them. Selling a book is commerce. Speech itself is the content, not the act of selling it for money. The words inside the book are protected, but how is there a right to earn money in public through the sale of speech? It seems outside the scope of the First Amendment.
It also seems like an awkward precedent. If selling a book is protected speech, could you also sell a cake that has writing on it, or a CD that has recorded speech, and be protected under the First Amendment in the same way?
To answer your question, a commercial item can still be protected by the First Amendment. For instance, newspapers are commercial products, but thanks to First Amendment protections, there are limits to the ability of the govt. to regulate time, place and manner of sale (hence the difficulty of regulating newspaper boxes that are all over the city).
Same applies to book vendors. Just because they are selling the goods doesn’t mean they aren’t protected.
As for cakes with writing, etc: If the good being sold is primarily for other purposes (to feed someone) and it isn’t critical to the sharing of the message, it isn’t protected. For instance, there are very few messages I could write on a cake that I couldn’t write on a pamphlet or piece of paper (or book). A book, however, has one main purpose–to convey speech.
Thanks for posting the 1st Amendment! Nowhere in that did I see the right to sell books on the sidewalk.
BTW, if you thought calling this story “horrible” was nasty, sorry. Here’s a Participation Award for your efforts today – THANKS A LOT, GOOD JOB!
Not sure if WSR actually removed comments critical of their story, but just to be clear, doing so doesn’t infringe on your 1st Amendment rights. If the GOVERNMENT didn’t let you post critical things online, that would be a problem. A blog can remove posts whenever it feels like it.
I think this would have been easier to read had it been structured from the beginning as a “eye on the street” or “opinion” type of piece. Trying to wade through it with the mindset that it was a mostly neutral piece of reporting made me react a bit negatively. Always happy for content to digest though WSR!
those book vendors are nasty, i scooched between two tables near the corner as i exited a cab and got yelled at by one of the sellers, not that i even brushed his table in the least. another time i was looking at their books and put my coffee on the corner of the table-not on a book-and this man comes running up yelling at me, and thankfully a man i did not know, and who did not speak a word walked in between us til the vendor backed off.scary folks, those book vendors.
What seller wouldn’t be angry at an inconsiderate person who puts a coffee cup by their merchandise? It could easily get knocked over and wreck what they’re selling.
The tall skinny guy between 72nd and 73rd is nasty and crazy.
They all seem a bit nastier these days. Last night I saw one start screaming at a guy walking a dog because his dog sniffed the table leg.
This morning I saw one pretend to lunge at another dog which really spooked the dog.
These guys are really becoming a bigger problem and given that they act in openly hostile ways it would seem that there is an actual safety concern.
Vendors and food trucks…this administration won’t be happy until all the small businesses are shuttered. Small stores and restaurants pay taxes and comply with regulations regarding employees, sanitation and taxes. They deal with rapacious landlords and 24/7 construction and no one protects them.
That last photo is a bit misleading. Those vendors often quit in the afternoon, so that is how the sidewalk looks even without them being ‘shut down’. But why was he allowed to keep his tables on the sidewalk – doesn’t being ‘shut down’ mean packing up your goods.
Why ask that new laws be created? There are laws on the books already. Please see these rules that ALL vendors must follow: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ADC/20/2/27/20-465
The new rules mentioned would probably lose in court and cost taxpayers $$$, and really is just a way for the council member to kick the can. Her job should be to ask the police why they aren’t enforcing the law.
And keeping your goods overnight is already against the rules – that is why you don’t see it anywhere else in the city except in Ms. Rosenhtals’ district.
As to the claim that the police are doing all that they can – that is not the case. After people complained at the last meeting, the police did do something, and the guy whom sells his goods off the sidewalk has toned it down a bit. But the police can do several things:
1) Verbal commands to fix rule violations.
2) Issue a summons.
3) Confiscate goods.
Most of tables set up break two rules;
1) Too far from the curb.
2) Being too large.
The police have the authority to correct those abuses.
As far as letting the police ‘do real police work’ – this is real police work. Those rules were put into place for safety reasons. How long would it take for a squad car to stop by and take a look, and tell rule breakers to comply with the law? Isn’t that community policing at its best?
And for the ‘defenders’ of the booksellers: Them taking up more space than allowed means that other book vendors are shut out. I don’t think they should be removed – they should just follow the rules.
Same author, same subject, links to current laws, proposal for solutions, showing the other side of the story; fair reporting https://www.westsiderag.com/2015/10/27/police-say-theres-not-much-they-can-do-about-street-vendor-complaints
Just came from the east side. Didn’t see one street vendor, person sleeping in the street and streets were clean.
Seems like elected officials on the east side are doing a better job!
Homeless on 3rd ave, vendors on 5th. Doorways on Park with junkies and graffiti. Walk around more, you’ll see the Upper East is part of NY like the rest of Manhattan.
disgusting tax cheaters vendors. Yecchhh. makes me want to throw up.
What about the smelly proliferation of food vendors on Columbus Circle selling their nauseating food.
At least have certain hours of vending, and they must take everything with them. And make them pay taxes.
Meredith and WSR, thanks for covering the vendor’s side of the story.
I can’t believe people are griping about grammar and syntax. The story was communicated
very well and that is what matters.
If the vendors, the SBA, our neighborhood small business association, the vendorsproject.org and the police all worked together to create unified, pretty kiosks or carts that could be a solution.
Paris, London, Germany, Denmark, Poland, and LA have ideas and designs that could work for our city.
Agree 100%, the use of something like this from along the Seine in Paris would solve many of nyc’s issues.
http://rs1194.pbsrc.com/albums/aa374/Tbond111/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsecv0bjxs.jpeg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip
If you want to be a reporter, learn the basics. Learn grammar, learn punctuation,, learn syntax. You may not have attended Columbia J-school but at least make sure you’re passed 6th grade English. Know how to conjugate a verb and read a few books on punctuation like: “Easts Shoots Leaves”. It’s amusing and educational.
Jezbel, if you want to criticize someone else’s writing, make sure yours is correct. The book is “Eats, Shoots & Leaves.”
You’re missing an “e” in your nic.
The man pictured at the top is Fletch, a wonderful and very nice seller. His space is always very neat and he sells dresses during the summer and cold weather accessories during fall and winter.
He packs up every night.
Hey, Surfer, how would you like to have Fletch playing recorded music outside your window all day? What if you’re not feeling well or have a baby that needs a nap?
Move to Westchester with the rest of the yuppies, the book vendors are a staple of the Upper West Side and always will be.
Bread is a staple. These “book sellers” who take up half the width of the sidewalk are a nuisance.
you seem like a nice, tolerant person Claire. lol.
Thank you to Anon! Just to be clear, I live more than 12 blocks from this area but I do feel sorry for the residents of the Ansonia who have to endure this eyesore.
Wait, I thought the UWS had become the home of yuppies!? Did other WSR commenters lie to me?
There’s the “yuppie” comment – the refuge of the unimaginative.
I walk past there almost every day on my way to Fairway and often feel sorry for the people living in the Ansonia who have to live with the noise from the speakers the guy on the corner of 73rd is playing all day. Imagine never being able to have a quiet moment in your own apartment during his business hours.
It can’t be any louder than the sound of the world’s tiniest violin I’m playing for the tenants of the Ansonia.
Jealous much?
Best. Comment. Ever.
Probably the only way to make the law enforcement enforce law and the elected representative effectively represent is for the affected taxpayers to band together ans sue the city.
I find it disturbing that the police were called in simply because the owners of the new Bloomingdale Outlet want an area that has been occupied for years to be cleared of book vendors.
From a humanitarian ethical standpoint it is better to have used books being sold than overpriced clothing created in third world sweatshops. The workers in these factories have to endure poor working conditions such as excessive and forced overtime, denial of social security rights and failure to provide employment contracts, as well as severe health risks.
Yes, it would be better for them to be unemployed and impoverished!
Nathan – you’re assuming a binary option.
Surely you have more imagination than that…
Bloomingdales will generate tax revenue for city services and provide many jobs in the store. Why dont you think long and hard about what these book vendors contribute to the community. By the way, I have walked by those tables for 20 years and have yet to see anyone purchase anything.
Got a great book called “Image Before My Eyes. A Photographic History Of Jewish Life in Poland, 1864-1939” in good condition for $7 there.
Bought a book on Dick Cavett for 2 dollars…nice find
You overpaid