A notice posted around Corona Plaza on Friday (Erin Durkin / Hell Gate) Signs posted in the area warned of an impending enforcement blitz. If they don’t sell, they can’t eat, they can’t pay rent." "Some people, what they sell is what they live on. "Many of us survive by working at carts, and eating at carts," she said in Spanish, noting street food is more affordable for a mostly immigrant clientele. She said that, coupled with the lack of foot traffic, has hurt business. Guadalupe Sen has a permit for her cart, Tlayudas Oaxaquenas SR San Pablo, but was required to remove a table she had set up for customers to eat. Vendors banded together to form an association, the Asociación de Vendedores Ambulantes de Corona Plaza, to create their own code of conduct, keep things clean and work out any disputes.Ĭrowds at the usually bustling market were sparse this weekend, as most of the vendors remained shut down. A few brick and mortar merchants have complained about mess and what they consider unfair competition. The plaza earned a spot on the New York Times' recent list of the 100 best restaurants in the city.īesides cuisine from Mexico and Ecuador, some vendors sell clothes, crafts and household supplies. The City Council passed legislation in 2021 to add 4,000 permits over the course of a decade, on top of the 3,000 previously available, but the process has faced lengthy delays.Īt Corona Plaza-which sprawls under the 7 train stop at 103rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue-as many as 90 vendors sometimes turn out on busy days, most of them without permits. Street vendors have been unable to get permits because of a strict cap on the number issued by the City. Regular umbrellas are allowed, and several of the vendors switched to umbrellas after canopies were removed. Four vendors were told to remove such canopies, but not fined. Rules prohibit vendors from using fixed canopies bolted into the ground, according to Sanitation. "We remind all vendors of their legal responsibilities not to leave trash or merchandise behind." Corona Plaza after the raid (Erin Durkin / Hell Gate) "Sanitation Police removed five vending setups that were abandoned, all of which have been vouchered and can be claimed by their owners, and issued one summons to a vendor for obstructing the sidewalk," he said. This is a location where recent visits showed significant issues with cleanliness and pedestrian access," said spokesman Vincent Gragnani. "As part of the Adams Administration's commitment to the health, safety, accessibility and cleanliness of our streets, the Department of Sanitation engaged in vending inspections and limited enforcement in Corona Plaza over the last two days. It’s going to be hard working out in the heat." Sanitation police officers at Corona Plaza on Saturday (Erin Durkin / Hell Gate)Ī spokesman for the Department of Sanitation said enforcement was necessary because of quality of life problems in the area. They also had to remove some merchandise because authorities said they were taking up more space than allowed. Pineda's stand was allowed to stay, but forced to take down a canopy that had covered their spot. "They were taking people's stuff who didn't have a permit," said Briget Pineda, whose family has sold fruit at the plaza for the last twenty years. Its population exploded when the pandemic set in, as people in the neighborhood-one of the hardest hit by COVID-turned to vending to make ends meet. Corona Plaza after the raid (Eric Durkin / Hell Gate)Ĭorona Plaza has become a popular destination for Latin American street food among local residents and visitors from around the city, with vendors hawking tacos, meat skewers and sandwiches. Legal vendors were forced to remove canopies they had used for shade, leaving them to bake in 94 degree heat in the midst of a brutal heat wave. Only a handful of the dozens of vendors who usually pack the plaza at 103rd Street remained on Friday afternoon after the crackdown. After months of questions about what would happen to the widely celebrated, if largely unpermitted, street food haven at Corona Plaza in Queens, the Adams administration provided an answer: On Friday, armed Sanitation Department police officers launched an enforcement sweep, clearing out many of the vendors who lack permits.
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