A Brief History of NYC Street Vending | Virtual Fundraiser for the Street Vendor Project

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Street vending has been a part of New York City’s public life for hundreds of years, often taken up by newcomers to the country and New Yorkers excluded from the formal economy, as a means of starting a small business. For this special virtual program, Cindy VandenBosch and Andrew Gustafson will explore street vending history from the 19th century to today and examine how the city’s physical, culinary, artistic, and legal landscape has been shaped by vendors. We’ll also be joined for a special visit from street vendor MD Alam, calling in from his food cart Royal Grill Halal Food to share with us how his business has survived during COVID-19.

This program is fundraiser for the non-profit Street Vendor Project, a project of the Urban Justice Center, and is not part of our ongoing Virtual Program series or included in our Membership program

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Eating In Translation with Dave Cook | Episode 77

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Many fairs, festivals, and food bazaars, rooted in culinary traditions from all over the world, have been postponed or cancelled this spring. New York-based photojournalist Dave Cook will lead a virtual tour through all corners of the city to look at the past, and the future, of these beloved events. Since 2005 his website Eating In Translation has explored lesser-known food in the five boroughs of the city and, occasionally, farther afield. Dave’s work has also appeared in The Art of Eating; Culinary Backstreets, The New York Times, Savoring Gotham: A Food Lover’s Companion to New York City, and many other publications.

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Wall Street’s Finest Falafel: A Conversation with Adel El Nagar | Episode 60

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For nearly 20 years, Adel El Nagar has been serving food of his native Egypt on the streets of New York. Known for his made-to-order falafel, his cart Adel’s #1 Halal was recognized as one of the best in the city when it won the 2017 People’s Choice Vendy Award. Join this conversation with one of the city’s most beloved halal street vendors as he discusses his journey, his food, and his successful street vending business.

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Immigrant Food for an Immigrant Nation with Nuchas Chief Empanada Officer | Episode 58

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Ariel Barbouth was born and raised in Argentina and came to New York City with his wife Leni in 2009 with a dream: to bring traditional Argentine empanadas and make them mainstream in the US. Since then, their company Nuchas has opened kiosks, launched Vendy Award-winning food trucks and carts, opened an empanada factory, and soon they will be shipping direct to consumers nationwide. Ariel will discuss his exciting journey in the food industry, from formulating recipes to scaling manufacturing, being a street vendor to pitching on Shark Tank.

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NYC Street Vendors: How Can We Help Them? | Episode 13

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Street vendors rally on the steps of city hall with signs that read I love immigrant NY and Support NYC smallest businesses and Help us to serve you

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There are as many as 20,000 street vendors in New York City, most of whom are immigrants. This program will focus on the impact of the current public health crisis on the lives and livelihoods of New York City’s street vendors, including an interview with Mohamed Attia, Executive Director of the Street Vendor Project, a membership-driven project that is part of the Urban Justice Center, a non-profit organization that provides legal representation and advocacy to various marginalized groups of New Yorkers.

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National Manufacturing Day Tours, Oct. 4

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Ferra Designs metal design and fabrication workshop at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Celebrate National Manufacturing Day on Friday, Oct. 4 on a guided tour at the Brooklyn Navy Yard focused on interior design and fabrication The tour will begin with an introduction to the Yard’s story, with an emphasis on the diverse array of products, goods, and objects designed and manufactured on-site over the last two centuries. Next, visitors will walk the 30,000-square-foot factory floor of Ferra Designs, a company that specializes in custom-built architectural metalwork, and visit the studio of textile maker AVO, and speak directly to some of the craftspeople redefining manufacturing and making at the Yard today. This tour is great for anyone interested in art, design, craft, and manufacturing as well as those interested in history and the continued social and economic impact of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Metalworking and woodworking is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in New York City, but it is eclipsed by food production, processing, and packaging, which employs more than 17,000 New Yorkers. On Oct. 4 we will also be hosting a tour of de Royal Dinges Factory, a commercial kitchen and food truck commissary that produces more than 7,000 waffles daily for Wafels & Dinges, one of the most successful street food businesses in the city (and finalist at this year’s Vendy Awards). Visitors will learn how commissaries work to support the thousands of food carts and trucks around the city, walk through the production line, and even get to put their hands in some dough to make their own authentic Liège wafel.

National Manufacturing Day Tours

icon-gears  Brooklyn Navy Yard: Inside Industry // FRI, Oct 4, 9:30am 
icon-truck  Wafels & Dinges Factory Tour // FRI, Oct 4, 10am

Join the Final Vendy Awards, Sep. 21

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The best day of the year is fast approaching: Saturday, September 21, 2019, the day of the 15th – and final – New York City Vendy Awards. For 15 years, the Street Vendor Project has been convening carts, trucks, and pop-ups to serve up the best street food New York City has to offer, in order to raise awareness about the plight of vendors and raise money for their vital mission. Started in 2005 with just four vendors gathered in commissary garage in the East Village, and attended by just 250 guests, the Vendys have grown into one of the city’s premiere food events, featuring two dozen vendors and 2,000+ attendees flocking to Governors Island.

This year’s competition will feature three categories instead of the usual five: Best Dessert, Best Freshman (for first-time Vendy competitors), and the All-Star Vendy Cup, featuring 15 vendors that have collectively earned 25 nominations, nine Vendy Awards, and three Vendy Cup championships, including two finalists from the first Vendys in 2005, Tony Dragon’s and NY Dosas (see the full list of 2019 nominees). The event is all-you-can-eat-and-drink, and all of the proceeds benefit the Street Vendor Project. This may be the final Vendys, but SVP will continue to support and celebrate the vendor community, so stay connected, and you can prepare for the Vendys by joining one of our Food Cart Tours.

 

15th Annual Vendy Awards

icon-calendar  SAT, Sep 21, 12pm
  20+ street vendors, all you can eat and drink
  Governors Island

Testifying at NY City Council: Lift the Caps!

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Street vendors rally on the steps of city hall with signs that read I love immigrant NY and Support NYC smallest businesses and Help us to serve you

On April 11, the New York City Council Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing held a hearing on a package of bills affecting street vendors, most important among them a proposal that would raise the artificial cap put on the number of mobile food vendors that has been in place since 1983. For the third time in six years, we were at City Hall with the Street Vendor Project to make our voices heard.

Intro 1116 would take several steps to address the issue of black-market permit renting. While Mobile Food Vending Permits only cost $200 for two years, they can be renewed indefinitely, and there is a hard cap of 5,100 permits available. As a result, very few permits come back into circulation, and most permit holders don’t actually vend, but rent their permit to working vendors; the going rate is currently around $25,000.>> Continue reading

Gabs: Supporting local small businesses in New York

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Gabs Photography, January 11, 2018

by Gabriela Hengeveld

When we were invited to visit New York for a story about the Bronx we got in touch with Turnstile Tours an organization providing tours to visit and eat at different Food Trucks. The organization found a way of entertaining tourist whilst at the same time having a positive social impact. Supporting local Food Truck businesses, mostly run by newly arrived Immigrants. They not only help the entrepreneurs with customers but also providing them with legal advise through a specific NGO so they can better set up their businesses.

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Explore the World of Street Vending at Museum at Eldridge Street, Nov 29

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Veronica Julien stands in front of her metal food cart on Water Street and talks to a tour guide and tour group as they smile. wearing glasses in an apron and a young man next to her are both standing in front of a metal food cart on a busy street.

Join us on Nov. 29 at the Museum at Eldridge Street when Cindy VandenBosch will be moderating a conversation about street vending, past and present, covering the industry’s deep roots on the Lower East Side, hearing from some of today’s most popular sidewalk chefs, and learning about the the many other players that support this industry. Panelists will include Adam Sobel of the Vendy Awards-winning kosher vegan food truck The Cinnamon Snail, Jack Beller of multigenerational food cart fabricator Worksman Cycles-800BuyCart, Lower Manhattan street vendor Veronica Julien of Veronica’s Kitchen, and attorney and advocate Matt Shapiro of the Street Vendor Project.

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 7pm | Museum at Eldridge Street | >> More Information <<