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Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang criticized over street vendor comments
NYC’s leading mayoral candidate Andrew Yang faced a barrage of backlash over a tweet this weekend that many considered unsupportive toward the city’s thousands of street vendors. While the former U.S. presidential candidate said he supported increasing the number of licenses handed out to vendors, Yang also stated that “we should do more for the retailers who are paying rent and trying to survive.”
The controversial tweet comes on the heels of City Council recently lifting the permit cap for street vendors after a years-long battle. Supporters of the move called it a big win for street vendors. The Street Vendor Project weighed in on Twitter as well: “Grossly uninformed statement. Vendors bring business to commercial corridors, increasing foot traffic and economic growth for all.”
Yang later tweeted that “I’d like to bring more unlicensed vendors into the legal market. Education for immigrant/non English speaking vendors on rules of vending, opening more spaces for legal outdoor vending, working with small businesses to broker tensions all would help.”
You know what I hear over and over again - that NYC is not enforcing rules against unlicensed street vendors. I’m for increasing licenses but we should do more for the retailers who are paying rent and trying to survive.
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) April 11, 2021
In other news
— New York state extended its 11 p.m. curfew on restaurants and bars as well as temporary legalization of to-go cocktails until May 6.
— Coney Island is now open at 33 percent capacity for the first time in 18 months.
— There are plans for a night market to open this summer in Chinatown at Forsyth Plaza, located at Forsyth and Canal streets, near the foot of the Manhattan Bridge.
— Emily Hyland is leading a virtual pizza-making class interspersed with poetry readings on Tuesday, April 27 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to benefit America Scores New York, a non-profit working with NYC youth through reading programs
— Twins Lounge — a bi-level space with two separate bars — is finally open in Greenpoint, at 732 Manhattan Avenue, after a year-long delay because of the pandemic.
— Tickets are now on sale for the Brisket King NYC outdoor festival on April 21 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Pig Beach in Gowanus. More than a dozen local chefs will be competing.
— It’s Monday, after all:
