Sidewalk vendors flood to BPC as 9/11 Memorial opens

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June 4, 2014- By Steven E. Greer

The day of reckoning has arrived. We have all been wondering what will be impact the 9/11 Memorial on the quiet community of Battery Park City. Already, the negative impact can be seen everywhere. There are at least three new hotdog vendors in BPC.

The arrival of the hot dog vendors is Stage 1 of the cancer. Next, the town cars and tour buses, trained to know that where there is a hot dog vender, there is a neglected street willing to let them park, will flock to BPC.

Sure enough, next to every one of the new hotdog vendors are already cash-seeking livery cabs, SUV’s, and tour buses. They sit for hours, with idling engines, tossing their trash, and urinating in cups (we have YouTubes of all of that).

We have made progress. After BatteryPark.TV motivated Goldman Sachs to make some calls, the hotdog vendor on Vesey Street and North End was evicted today. That was an easy task, since the Goldman block is highly secured. However, the common folk in South BPC will have to fight harder.

This topic was raised at the June 3rd CB1 meeting, and Anthony Notaro completely misled the audience by essentially saying that it is impossible to get rid of sidewalk vendors. He conflated the SOHO bag vendor problem with our food vendors, which are completely different issues. He was obviously trying to protect the NYPD from calls.

In fact, the Commander of the First precinct is very willing to field 311 complaints about sidewalk vendors, but the residents have to put in the effort. The first step is to attend the monthly First precinct meetings. The next one will be June 26th.

Then, go online to 311, and file a complaint.

Step 1: Click here for 311.

Step 2: “File a complaint”

Step 3: Chose the “Make a complaint” in the “Streets and Sidewalks” category.

Step 4: Choose “Blocked Sidewalk”

Step 5: Scroll down in the next window to “A Produce or flower stand”

Step 6: Describe the violation in your own words.

Some common violations are being within 20-feet of an entrance, too close to fire hydrant, staying 24/7 and never leaving, or simply not having a valid permit.

These complaints go to the First precinct and officers are sent out. It works.