Protestors Demand to End Ticketing and Cart Confiscation
Eliana Juarmillo, a Bolivian immigrant, stood on the corner of 183rd St. and Broadway yelling, “open the streets!” Covered in pink tickets issued by the New York City Health Department, she joined a protest demanding an end to ticketing and cart confiscation of food vendor carts until new permits become available. “I don’t even know how many times they’ve ticketed me,” Juarmillo said in Spanish. “It takes two months of work to pay off one ticket.”
The protest was organized by a group of activists following an incident in which vendor Hector Palaguachi lost his food cart because he had an expired license. Palaguachi said that the popular juice cart is his only livelihood. Without it, he won’t be able to pay his rent, he said. Many of the protestors, immigrants from Latin America, echoed his sentiment.
Elise Goldin, protest organizer, said that many of the food cart vendors are vulnerable and easily taken advantage of.
“We are here because we are demanding more respect for these undocumented immigrants,” Goldin said.
In order run a food cart in New York City, vendors need both a license and a permit. The license is a photo ID badge that allows you to sell food from the cart. The permit is for the cart, Goldin said.
Currently new permits are available only to licensed vendors who were placed on The Food Cart Waiting List and are notified by the Department of Health to apply for the permit. The renewable permit expires two years from the previous expiration date. The fee is $200 for processing food and $75 for a non-processing food unit, according to the City of New York. The city is only accepting license renewals from previous license holders or their spouses.
Juarmillo’s permit expired and she cannot wait for it to be renewed. “This is the only thing I can do to take care of my family,” she said in Spanish. “I have a younger brother who I have to support.”
Christopher Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Health, issued a statement saying that the department is currently investigating the number of permits and how they are issued.
“There are so many people that need these streets to be open (to food carts), Juarmillo said. “I am fighting for equal opportunities, and I will not stop fighting.”