Get ready for a cornucopia of food carts.
Legislation recently proposed in the state Senate would bar New York and other municipalities from capping the number of vendors that can work the sidewalks, paving the way for carts to crowd the five boroughs.
“We need to start seeing street vendors for who they are: small business owners and, often, people of color — immigrants, women, seniors and parents who work in public spaces to provide food and other goods to our communities,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jessica Ramos.
The Queens Democrat’s district includes part of bustling Roosevelt Avenue, home to many of the approximately 5,000 vendors licensed by City Hall — as well as several scofflaws who operate illegally rather than sit on a waiting list longer than the shelf-life of a street cart soda can.
The proposal won’t see the floor until the state legislature’s next session begins in January, but should receive reasonable consideration, with backing from representatives of vendor- and immigrant-heavy communities, insiders told The Post.
“Over the years, it’s become increasingly difficult for vendors to make a living through caps for vendor permits and the criminalization of the industry,” said Ramos, whose bill would also expunge past violations for unsanctioned vending from rogue peddlers’ records. “We must end criminal penalties and let people grow our local economy.”
A spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio — who has previously backed raising the cap by more than 3,000 permits — said that City Hall is “reviewing the legislation.”
But opponents — including industry advocates, brick-and-mortar business owners and some vendors themselves — say that Ramos’s logic is as twisted as a classic New York pretzel.
“Just eliminating the cap and putting thousands more vendors on the streets exacerbates the problems that already exist,” argued Andrew Rigie, executive director of the non-profit NYC Hospitality Alliance. “You [already] have people selling bagels and coffee for half the price in front of a brick-and-mortar store.
”Gabriela Carrion, the general manager of Maison Kayser at Columbus Circle, said they’d be hard pressed to compete with a surge of souvlaki-slingers who don’t have to worry about paying rent.
“I wouldn’t like to see 10 carts around, for sure,” said Carrion, 35. “There needs to be some control.” And some vendors already on the street said they also don’t want an influx of new hawkers horning in on their gig.
“We don’t need more competition. Every corner [currently] has a food cart,” groused one halal vendor near Columbus Circle who gave his name as Omar. “How are we going to have business?”
But not everyone was opposed to opening up the floodgates.
“The problem is that permits are limited,” said Khalid Hassan, 50, another halal cart vendor in the area.
“A lot of people are on the waiting list. I have a lot of friends and family on that waiting list.”
Added Jennifer Oneal, a shift leader at area eatery Argo Tea, “It might affect business, but there are so many New Yorkers and — I don’t mean to toot my own horn — they know which place has the best coffee.”
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