Despite operating on public right-of-way, food vendors claim that developers are pushing them out of established vending spots.
New York's street vendors are mounting a campaign against displacement by real estate interests, writes Valeria Ricciulli in Curbed. "It is time that the real estate industry stopped running our city and controlling our public space," says Mohamed Attia, executive director of the Street Vendor Project.
Hot dog vendor Mohamed Awad has watched his business in the Hudson Yards get slowly eaten away by real estate interests. When Hudson Yards opened in 2019, "Awad, his partners, and their employees began to face harassment from the police and Hudson Yards security, even though their carts are on a public sidewalk." To make matters worse, property owner Related has added landscaping elements that the vendors see as a purposeful attempt to "push them out of Hudson Yards altogether." Awad explained that since "city regulations explicitly require vendors to leave a 12-foot-wide clear path on the sidewalk in front of their carts," the landscaping additions "effectively built him out of business."
"After their rally, several street vendors took it upon themselves to push back, literally. The Street Vendor Project had found that Related didn’t have a DOT permit to set out that planter. So several street vendors worked together to shove it just far enough to make room for Awad’s cart, as Hudson Yards employees and several NYPD officers stood by."
Days later, the planter had been moved back. Awad is undeterred. "I’ve been here before all of them," he said. "It doesn’t mean I own [the space], but this is a public street. I’m not going to give up."
FULL STORY: Hudson Yards Has Landscaped Out the Food Vendors
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Dallas Surburb Bans New Airbnbs
Plano’s city council banned all new permits for short-term rentals as concerns about their impacts on housing costs grow.
Divvy Introduces E-Bike Charging Docks
New, circular docks let e-bikes charge at stations, eliminating the need for frequent battery swaps.
How Freeway Projects Impact Climate Resilience
In addition to displacement and public health impacts, highway expansions can also make communities less resilient to flooding and other climate-related disasters.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.