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Evicting The Vendors From The Bed-Stuy Market


The 30 members of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Cooperative Market are in many ways typical of the thousands of fiercely self-sufficient street vendors in neighborhoods across the city, who on any given day are hawking everything from hotdogs to mud cloth. Most of these “micro-entrepreneurs” cobble together a living without the basic legal, political and even physical protections that traditional store-front merchants can take for granted.

But the story of the Bed-Stuy market seems especially senseless and even cruel. Four years ago, some 200 vendors were pushed off a two-block strip on Fulton Street – some of whom had sold their wares there for two decades -- to make way for Fulton FIRST, a commercial revitalization project. Intending to deflect public criticism and vendor resistance, New York City’s Department of Small Business Services offered the Fulton Street vendors an arrangement similar to that in Washington Heights, Harlem and East Flatbush, an off-the-curb, gated outdoor “market” -- temporary fold-up tents on a city-owned plot of concrete. The Bedford-Stuyvesant Market had built-in liabilities that included a physical plant that began to crumble the day it was erected.

Now, those same vendors are scheduled to be evicted. What happens next may function as a referendum on the role of street vendors in the development of low-income neighborhood economies.

Community Economic Impact

During the Dinkins and Giuliani administrations, there were massive, coordinated police sweeps in Harlem, East Flatbush, Washington Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant, designed to purge illegal street vendor activity to make way for commercial revitalization efforts. This exposed some raw tensions in these neighborhoods, with local merchants and middle-class residents of color pitted against low-income, foreign-born entrepreneurs of color. For instance, at Bedford-Stuyvesant community board meetings, predominately African-American homeowners casually disparaged the vendors for creating a “third world” atmosphere on Fulton. This middle-class antagonism created the political cover needed by the Giuliani administration to clear the vendors off the street.

 

These vendor relocation efforts in low-income neighborhoods beg some classic questions: Is gentrification the same as community development? Whose interests are served by community renewal?

An article in City Limits Magazine reported that Fulton Street store front owners, who used to accuse vendors of chasing away their business, admitted that business dropped significantly after the streets were cleared of the foot traffic once whipped up by curbside vending.

The Fulton FIRST project, driven by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, provided the pretext for the removal of the Fulton vendors and was supposed to turn Fulton into a shopping destination that would attract higher end chains and merchandisers. Fulton Street now has new outdoor lighting and is noticeably cleaner and less congested than when the vendors dominated the scene, but many argue that it is also no longer the vibrant and colorful thoroughfare it used to be . Either way, the large-scale transformation that was supposed to be triggered by the departure of the vendors has conspicuously stalled.

On 125th Street the change in the post-vendor landscape has been far more dramatic and impressive. The removal of the vendors did in fact pave the way for a more upscale commercial strip. What Harlem lost in the way of gritty urban charm it found in a glossy, corporate makeover.

The economic impact of unlicensed street vending is difficult to measure given the quasi black market nature of the business. Before their ranks were decimated by the Harlem vendor sweep of 1994, more than a thousand vendors made a living on 125th Street. And not only did these vendors themselves patronize other businesses, they attracted thousands of shoppers each day from across the city.

The Shabazz Market vendors, who number under a hundred, all make the same complaint as their Bed-Stuy and Flatbush counterparts – that they make far less than they did on the streets. But there are upsides.

Few would deny for instance that the Shabazz market, with its abundance of African art, has become a welcomed tourist shopping attraction to 116th Street. And while the neighborhood markets hold only a fraction of the vendor populations they were established to accommodate – the vast majority of street vendors opted not to join these markets and presumably become instantly unemployed – they still represent sizable concentrations of gainfully employed people. In the case of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Market, most of the vendors live in the surrounding area and have a strong social, cultural and economic interest in it.

In 2003, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Cooperative Market, by conservative estimates, generated a modest, but respectable, three quarters of a million dollars in sales. Many of vendors in fact did so well that they left the market to start free-standing, “legitimate” businesses.

Perhaps most significantly, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Cooperative Market over the years has attracted a loyal customer base made up of bargain hunting, poor and working-class people from the surrounding area. In response to the news that the market might be closed down, more than a thousand petitions, over the course of a few hours, were signed by customers demanding that it be allowed to remain open.

Broken Promises, Looming Eviction

Over the years explicit promises made by city officials to help raise funds for the market and make it commercially viable with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of capital improvements were never honored. As their tents blew away and collapsed, the vendors were forced to engineer their own makeshift wooden shanties. While the majority of the vendors faithfully pay a maintenance fee that provides for basic services like electricity and security, it is not enough to stave off the physical deterioration of the market.

 

The winter of 2005 has only been worse. The private landlord in charge of the market announced that the vendors would soon be evicted because of rent arrears. But at a recent meeting with the vendors, Michael Smith, the assistant commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services, soberly informed them that his agency, which had been scarce since offering the vendors shelter and support in exchange for their cooperation and peaceful exit from Fulton Street, would not intervene to help the vendors develop a new market. Instead, he would, he insisted, help them get back on their feet in other ways.

Before Smith could finish ticking off his agency’s tepid offerings (like “small business training”) the vendors’ patience ended abruptly. “Time after time you guys sit here in front of us, in your suits and ties and go blah, blah, blah,” said Donovan Corniffe, a West Indian vendor who runs a lucrative electronic games business at the Market. “And now you tell us we have to leave. You ain’t never done nutin’ for us, nutin’.”

Councilmember Al Vann and State Assemblymember Annette Robinson, who swapped public offices since the vendor relocation, have been unresponsive no-shows on the issue, despite attempts from the vendors to get them involved.

Meanwhile, the small not-for-profit that used to manage the market, citing its own financial challenges, is in the process of dissolving.

The picture is not as bleak in other neighborhoods. The handful of neighborhood-based groups that have sprung up over the last few years to advocate for vendor rights suggest there is a growing awareness of the important role that street vending plays in low-income areas of color. Organizations like East Harlem’s Esperanza del Barrio , and Bushwick’s Latin American Workers Project, for instance, are both fighting for the right of their constituencies to vend freely, without penalty or police harassment.

An appreciation for the value that street vending can add to a neighborhood was demonstrated by the Imam Izak-El Pasha of Masjid Malcolm Shabazz in Harlem who championed the development of the Shabbaz Market in Harlem using City money, and Jamaican-born Councilmember Una Clarke, the godmother of Flatbush vendors, who leveraged city funds to build and maintain the Flatbush market.

The struggles of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Cooperative demonstrate that, if nothing else, neighborhood markets can only be sustained through public or private subsidy, whether it be through rent-free land, grants, or a combination of both. But above all else, the laws of supply and consumer demand, as well as political demand, will determine the fate of the Bed-Stuy Market. If the vendors can get organized and prove themselves indispensable to the surrounding area, and if the Market’s customers determine that the Market is worth fighting for, then maybe neighborhood leaders and public officials will start to give a damn.

Mark Winston Griffith is the former Executive Director of the Central Brooklyn Partnership which used to provide organizing and management support to the Bedford-Stuyvesant Cooperative Market. 

State of the City


In his annual State of the City address last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in Ronald Reagan fashion, introduced Lieutenant Joseph Ferrera, a 40-year veteran on the New York Police Department, to help illustrate that "New York is among the safest cities in the nation."

But New York's police officers, who are working without a contract, say they are losing their most experienced people to the suburbs where salaries are higher.

Bloomberg also hailed Tennesee Banola, a student from P.S. 119, who after attending summer school was promoted to the fourth grade.

Yet, the city's school system - still in the midst of the mayor's reforms - remains riddled with problems. Test scores are low, classrooms are crowded, and many parents feel left out of the process.

To Tomas Vallejo, a mail clerk who recently bought his first home in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, the mayor said, "Tomas, bienvenidos al sueño Americano."

However, New York's housing crisis prevents many from obtaining "the American Dream." The average price of an apartment in Manhattan is $1 million and one out of every four households pays more than one-half of their income toward rent.

The New York painted in the mayor's speech is a place where crime is dropping, schools are getting better, and affordable housing is being built.

But in the city of Bloomberg's critics, each of the handpicked guests meant to put a human face on his accomplishments could just have easily represented what is wrong with New York.

Some have called the mayor's State of the City speech, "the opening round" of a campaign battle that will play out in the city over the next 10 months. It was also an opportunity for Bloomberg's opponents - one Republican and five Democrats - to begin to outline how their plans for New York differ.

So what is the actual state of the city? What is the mayor's view? What are his promises? And what do his critics say he failed to mention?

BUDGET
CRIME
EDUCATION
HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
JOBS
PARKS
TRANSPORTATION

BUDGET

What Is the State of the City's Budget? Although the city's fiscal situation has improved since Mayor Bloomberg took office in 2002, the city will still have a $2 billion budget deficit this year and a $3 billion deficit the next year.

Budget experts point to other possible troubles ahead.

One major issue is the state's $6 billion deficit. Governor George Pataki has not said how he plans to address the issue, but many fear the funds for city programs will be cut.

Another question in the city's budget is unresolved labor negotiations with half of the city's workforce, including police, firefighters, and teachers who do not have contracts.

New York City also borrowed heavily to pay for schools, bridges, and roads and now faces the highest debt in the nation. The city also has some of the highest taxes in the country.

What Is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's View? In his State of the City speech, the mayor only briefly mentioned the city's budget issues. He will outline his preliminary budget by the end of January and have to provide more specifics at that time.

He did not mention the state's fiscal problems.

He did not mention labor disputes.

He did not mention growing debt.

What Does the Mayor Promise to Do?
But he did pledge to continue offering some tax breaks. The mayor said he would give homeowners a $400 tax rebate as he did last year. The city also now offers low-income New Yorkers a city version of the Earned Income Tax credit. A family of four that makes less than $35,000 a year can receive up to $215 back from the city.

What Do the Mayor's Critics Say?
Early in the election year, Mayor Bloomberg's opponents are reluctant to explain in detail how they would address critical issues like inadequate state funding, labor negotiations, and debt - and they offered only broad criticism of the mayor's tactics in solving fiscal issues.

Republican Steve Shaw criticized the mayor's "tax-and-spend policies" over the last three years and promises to cut taxes.

For months, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller has argued that the mayor must do more in Albany and Washington, D.C. "It would be nice to have lower taxes, but we can't have real tax relief as long as Republican administrations in Albany and Washington take $18 billion more than they give back in services every year," said Miller.

Miller also notes that the Earned Income Tax Credit was the City Council's proposal, not the mayor's.

Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer has criticized the mayor's past budgets and the $400 property tax rebate. "If you're giving me a check in the mail while you're cutting after-school programs, cutting my firehouse, that doesn't make sense," Ferrer said last summer.

CRIME

What Is the State of the City's Crime?
Crime in New York City continues to fall. In 2004, the city had the fewest murders since 1963. New York is now rated among the safest of the nation's biggest cities.

The city also continues to face the mammoth challenge of preventing and preparing for future terrorist attacks.

What Is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's View?
When Rudolph Giuliani left office, many New Yorkers feared that crime would increase. At every occasion, Mayor Bloomberg reminds his audience that crime has continued to go down under his watch.

"To some, these are just statistics, but to me, these numbers represent lives saved and families spared the hurt and anguish of being victimized," the mayor said.

What Does the Mayor Promise to Do?
In his recent speech, the mayor outlined three new public safety initiatives in 2005: - Continue the work of Operation Impact, a special unit that targets high crime areas, and add 1,000 recently graduated police officers to the unit. - Upgrade the city's Compstat system, the high-tech crime tracking system, to provide same-day information on emerging crime patterns. - Deploy an 80-member police anti-graffiti task force.

The mayor also vowed to continue fighting for additional homeland security funding in Washington, D.C.

What Do the Mayor's Critics Say?
Bloomberg's opponents have a difficult time arguing against low crime rates, but they believe more could be done to keep the city safe.

City Councilmember Charles Barron, who represents East New York, argues that neighborhoods like his have not seen the same dramatic drop in crime as much as the city, and he criticizes the mayor's tactics. It was an officer in the mayor's Operation Impact program that shot 19-year-old Timothy Stansbury last year in the hallway of his public housing building last year.

"Complaints against the Police Department are up in my neighborhood," said Barron.

When it comes to homeland security funding 1006, all of the Democrats say Bloomberg should have done more lobbying in Washington, D.C. to make sure that New York gets its fair share of anti-terrorism money.

"I urge the mayor to take his message to Washington and demand more Homeland Security money," Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has said. "This is a dangerous and ludicrous funding formula that ignores higher-risk target cities."

EDUCATION

What is the State of the City's Education?
The New York City school system has 1,300 schools, 85,000 teachers, and 1.1 million kids. It is the most expensive item in the city's budget.

Three years ago, the mayor began instituting his education reforms, promising to cut bureaucracy, raise test scores, and get parents more involved. While many new initiatives have been put in place, they have not yet produced dramatic results.

Another major issue facing the city's schools is the result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit.

In November, a court-appointed panel recommended that city schools should receive an additional $5.6 billion a year phased in over the next four years. Next year, the panel recommended an increase of $1.4 billion, but did not say how much should come from the state and how much should come from the city.

If the city's funding equals nearly a quarter of the money, it will have to pay an additional $330 million next year and a total of $1.4 billion by 2009.

What is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's View? In his speech, Mayor Bloomberg boasted, "We are making our school system the best in the nation" and outlined the major efforts of his education reforms.

In the last three years, the mayor has:

 

But even the mayor admits that his reforms have still taken hold everywhere in the city. "Not every student, not every classroom or school, has improved," the mayor said. "We've only just begun."

What Does the Mayor Promise to Do?
Mayor Bloomberg's major new initiative is the creation of a $14-million vocational program to help 2,600 high school dropouts. The program, called "Learning to Work" will mix classroom and work experience and students can earn a GED diploma.

Bloomberg has said he does not think the city should have to pay any portion of the increase in school funding as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity suit.

What Do the Mayor's Critics Say?
There are plenty of critics of the mayor's education reforms.

City Council Speaker Gifford Miller accuses the mayor of repeatedly vetoing bills passed by the council that would give it greater oversight of the school system. "We want accountability along with [school] control," Miller said.

"Education policy that can best be described as in disarray," said Anthony Weiner. "He should have said he would get to the root causes of the virtual lawlessness in the classrooms…much of it has to do with taking the authority away from teachers and principals."

"We are concerned that the mayor's Department of Education itself sees parental involvement as optional to its efforts to reform city schools," Fernando Ferrer said last year.

HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS:

What is the State of the City's Housing?
Many believe that housing is the most critical issue facing the city. Vacancy rates are at record lows, 70 percent of New Yorkers pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent, and about 40,000 New Yorkers sleep in homeless shelters each night.

What is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's View?
Mayor Bloomberg says that affordable housing is being built all across the city. He points to new developments in Williamsburg and East New York, and the recent rezoning of the West Side of Manhattan, which will create an estimated 3,300 affordable apartments in the area.

He says that the city has helped more than 28,000 homeless men, women, and children find permanent homes.

What Does the Mayor Promise to Do?
The mayor hopes to create 200,000 affordable apartments by 2008. And he has pledge to "to eliminate chronic homelessness in this city within the next five years."

In order to achieve this, Bloomberg said he would lobby the state government in Albany for funding to build 12,000 units of supportive housing.

The mayor also promised to reform the intake process for homeless families and shut down the Emergency Assistance Unit in the Bronx, a place where in the past, people waiting for housing have slept in hallways and chairs.

What Do the Mayor's Critics Say?
While the mayor has made bold promises about new homeownership, new affordable housing , and an end to homelessness, his critics question the actual results.

"We have heard the plans for tens of thousands of new units of housing, now we need to see those units being built," said Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields.

JOBS

What is the State of the City's Jobs?
The city has made an economic recovery since the months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Still the city's economic recovery lags behind the rest of the nation. Wall Street employment is flat, salaries are not increasing, and experts do not expect that the city will regain all the 200,000 jobs lost since the year 2000 until the end of the decade.

What is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's View?
In his speech, Mayor Bloomberg pointed to the good news: 34,000 jobs were created in 2004, and he expects 50,000 new jobs to be created in 2005.

And he sees job growth in all five boroughs.

In the Bronx, the mayor says the new Hunts Point fish market will create 500 new jobs.

In Staten Island, he plans to redevelop the industrial area known as "The Homeport."

In Brooklyn, a new cruise ship dock in Red Hook will create an estimated 600 new jobs.

In Queens, the mayor looks to new business improvement districts to help boost the local economy.

In Manhattan, the mayor promises to continue the revitalization of downtown.

What Does the Mayor Promise to Do?
One of the mayor's biggest job creation strategies is his Hudson Yards plan, which includes the rezoning of the West Side of Manhattan, building a new stadium for the New York Jets, and expanding the Jacob Javits Center.

"The re-development of the Far West Side will create 230,000 new construction jobs alone," Bloomberg said. "And I think all New Yorkers should have a fair chance at these jobs."

He promised to create a "Commission on Construction Opportunity," made up of developers, contractors, union representatives, and politicians like U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel to help ensure that people of color have access to new jobs.

What Do the Mayor's Critics Say?
The mayor's critics say Bloomberg is not doing enough to create real jobs for average New Yorkers.

And all of the potential challengers are opposed to the West Side Stadium.

"[Bloomberg] sees stadiums as top priorities, but I guarantee not one in 100 New Yorkers would consider publicly financed sports stadiums priorities," said Republican Steve Shaw.

"We all want Wall Street to thrive, but we want our neighborhoods and the families who live there to flourish, too," said Fernando Ferrer. "And in a city where so many working families are struggling to keep their heads above water, the mayor offers a myopic vision and misplaced priorities."

And C. Virginia Fields did not seem impressed with the mayor's pledge to get African-Americans jobs in the construction industry. "We know about the 50 percent unemployment rate for African American males in New York," said Fields. "Now we need to know what is being done to reduce those numbers."

PARKS

What is the State of the City's Parks?
The city has made a renewed effort to build new parks in recent years, particularly along with Manhattan waterfront.

But overall funding for parks has not increased, and there are wide disparities in the condition of city parks. In a recent evaluation by New Yorkers for Parks, half of the city's parks received an "A" or "B," but a quarter received a "D" or "F."

What Is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's View?
Last year, the mayor says he added 150 acres to the city's park system, primarily along the waterfront. This year, the city will begin construction of the Harlem Piers, adding another access point to the Hudson waterfront. He will soon agree to the final plans to build a park on top of the Fresh Kills Landfill, which will be the largest park built in the city in 100 years.

What Does the Mayor Promise to Do?
In his speech, Mayor Bloomberg highlighted his commitment to spend $220 million to improve park system in the Bronx.

"It's the biggest investment in the city parks in nearly 70 years," the mayor said, "and it will produce an incredible green legacy throughout the Bronx."

What Do the Mayor's Critics Say?
Although the Bronx will enjoy millions of dollars in improvements, it comes at a price: a water filtration plant built in the middle of Van Cortlandt park.

The $220 million the mayor has promised was part of a deal with local Bronx politicians to get their approval for the plan.

City Councilmember Charles Barron was one of only six council members to vote against the filtration plant, arguing that the project would bring noise, traffic, and pollution, but no real benefit to neighborhood residents.

TRANSPORTATION

What is the State of the City's Transportation?
There are currently $17 billion worth of new transportation projects being proposed for the city, including the Second Avenue subway, a rail link from lower Manhattan to JFK airport, an extension of the number 7-subway line to the West Side of Manhattan.

But state and city funding for projects is shrinking and no one is sure how to pay for them.

What is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's View?
Of all of these projects, Mayor Bloomberg only mentioned one in his State of the City address - the rail link from JFK airport and Long Island to lower Manhattan.

"In 2005, we will succeed in converting unused federal tax benefits into funds for that purpose," the mayor said.

What do the Mayor's Critics Say?
While most of Bloomberg's opponents think a rail link is a good idea, they stress that it is not the only - or even the most crucial new transportation project.

C. Virginia Fields and Gifford Miller are campaigning for the Second Avenue Subway.

Anthony Weiner wants ferry service to Queens and more express bus service in the outer boroughs.

Related Links:
Gotham Gazette's Campaign 2005 Mayoral Race
Text of Bloomberg's State of the City Address 2005
Anthony Weiner's Response
Gifford Miller's Response
Fernando Ferrer's Response
C. Virginia Fields' Response
Charles Barron's Response
Steven Shaw's Response

Past State of the City Speeches:
Text of Bloomberg's State of the City Address 2004
Text of Bloomberg's State of the City Address 2003
Text of Bloomberg's State of the City Address 2002

 

Mayoral Candidates' Responses to Mayor Bloomberg's State of the City Address


Mayor Bloomberg's 2005 State of the City Address

The mayor's challengers respond to the State of the City address:

Charles Barron
Fernando Ferrer
Virginia Fields
Gifford Miller
Steven Shaw
Anthony Weiner

Fernando Ferrer's Response to the Mayor's State of the City Address:

"Your view on the state of the city depends on where you look at it from. The city looks very different from a penthouse than it does from a two-family home in Bayside, or a walk-up in Flatbush.

We all want Wall Street to thrive, but we want our neighborhoods and the families who live there to flourish, too.

And in a city where so many working families are struggling to keep their heads above water, the mayor offers a myopic vision and misplaced priorities.

He is determined to spend hundreds of millions in tax dollars to build a stadium for a billionaire team owner, while our schools are overcrowded and too many working families can't find child care or after-school programs or housing they can afford.

It's time to address the affordability crisis in our city, grow our middle class, and renew the promise of New York for all New Yorkers."

Virginia Fields Response to Mayor's State of the City Address:

"This was an effective political speech, and I welcome the Mayor's decision to join us in many of our longstanding efforts to build a better city for all our residents. The real lives behind these issues have deserved attention for some time now and what we heard today was a re-election speech that spelled out the Mayor's vision.

I am concerned, however, that the Mayor's new focus on these issues will suffer from his standard process of insular governance. We need governance that includes all of the people, and we simply haven't seen that up to this point.

Voters are looking for results. We have heard about the efforts to reform education, now we will look at the results of those reforms. We know about the 50 percent unemployment rate for African American males in New York; now we need to know what is being done to reduce those numbers? [sic] We have heard the plans for tens of thousands of new units of housing, now we need to see these units being built.

I am glad the mayor has decided to pursue an issue that I have been advocating for a long time in city government - expanding the participation of minority owned businesses in huge projects like the Westside and Lower Manhattan. We now hope to see results in this area so more New Yorkers can benefit from economic opportunities in our own city."

Charles Barron's Response to the Mayor's State of the City Address:

"I was trying to find out what city he was talking about. He painted such a rosy picture. This was a campaign speech, not an evaluation of what is really happening in the city. He doesn't mention that 50 percent of black males are unemployed. Complaints against the Police Department are up in my neighborhood.

He has turned New York City into New York City Inc., a playground for rich developers - Nets, Jets, and the Olympics - that is not trickling down into neighborhoods like East New York, where there is double-digit unemployment."

Steven Shaw's Response to the Mayor's State of the City Address:

"Due to Mayor Bloomberg's tax-and-spend policies, over the last two and one-half years, New York City has lost more private-sector jobs than it has created. He seeks increases in the welfare state... rather than focus on ways to get people out of these programs.

He sees stadiums as top priorities, but I guarantee you not one in 100 New Yorkers would consider publicly financed sports stadiums top priorities of theirs. New York needs to move in a different direction, which today's speech made even more apparent."

 



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