REMARKS
Council Member Restler's Statement: Vending on the Brooklyn Bridge
0:29:39
·
4 min
Council Member Lincoln Restler voices his concerns about the current broken system of vending, emphasizing the need for more licenses and better regulations.
He commends the Department of Transportation's efforts on the Brooklyn Bridge, advocating for a vendor plaza but opposing direct vending on the bridge itself.
Restler suggests shifting enforcement responsibility from NYPD to the Department of Sanitation, highlighting the unique challenges the Brooklyn Bridge faces due to its high pedestrian traffic.
Speaker 13
0:29:39
I wanted to to acknowledge our system of vending is broken.
0:29:45
And I don't think it's really the responsibility of the agencies that we have before us here today.
0:29:52
But it is a truly sad state of affairs.
0:29:56
And it's not working for vendors, it's not working for New Yorkers, I think the Department of Sanitation has done an m a reasonable job on enforcement.
0:30:06
It's a much better approach to do civil enforcement than criminal enforcement But we need to expand licenses for vending.
0:30:14
We need better regulations of vending.
0:30:16
And some of the bills that are under consideration today I think would advance those goals.
0:30:21
But I wanted to comment on one particular bill that has had a significant impact that would have a significant impact on our district I'm privileged to represent the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge.
0:30:33
And I I I wanna thank and commend the Adams administration and particularly the Department of Transportation for their leadership in addressing the vending situation on the Brooklyn Bridge.
0:30:48
When the bike lane was moved to the roadway just a couple years ago, We saw a proliferation of vending on the bridge that really made the conditions unsafe for for tourists for New Yorkers who are commuting to work, who are jogging, or going for a run, for people who are trying to enjoy the majestic Brooklyn Bridge, it has it was no longer safe.
0:31:14
The NYPD mentioned situations where there were rushes to get off the bridge, and it was enormously scary.
0:31:23
I believe that we should have more designated spaces for vendors.
0:31:27
And I would support creating a vendor plaza modeled after what's existed in Corona on the Brooklyn side of the bridge to ensure that there are spaces for vendors.
0:31:37
But what I would not support is vending on the bridge itself.
0:31:41
I recognize that the city council has long led in regulating vending in the city of New York, and I think that we should regulate vending on the bridges.
0:31:50
But I believe that those regulations should entail.
0:31:54
The local law should entail that there is no vending on the bridge.
0:31:58
The one important change that I would recommend And I hope my friend and colleague, Clyde Meyer, very much, council member Brewer, will consider, is that The department's sanitation should be responsible for enforcement on the bridge.
0:32:13
The rules that the Department of Transportation adopted make it the responsibility of the NYPD to regulate vending on the bridge.
0:32:24
That is the wrong approach.
0:32:25
And I realized that you had limited options at your disposal in the rulemaking process, leveraging the VTL to pursue this policy.
0:32:35
While I support the policy goal, I would encourage my colleagues and the council to change the agency responsible for enforcement to the Department of Sanitation.
0:32:44
And I hope that we can move forward with that approach.
0:32:49
I'll just say in conclusion, There is no other bridge in the city of New York that has the concentration of pedestrian traffic that we experience on the Brooklyn Bridge.
0:33:00
There are one set of policies that may make sense for every other bridge in the city and council member brewers bill.
0:33:06
Very well may be a good approach.
0:33:08
For every one of the other hundreds of bridges in New York City.
0:33:11
But I as as somebody who has heard from hundreds of constituents on this issue, Only one out of the over 300 people that have reached out to my office on this topic have told me that they want to see vendors maintained on the Brooklyn Bridge.
0:33:25
Every other constituent that we have heard from who runs the bridge every morning, who walks the bridge to to get to work, who loves the Brooklyn Bridge, his told us that vending got out of control on the Brooklyn Bridge and we needed to intervene, then in the narrow walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge, vending is not appropriate.
0:33:41
We should have vendor clauses.
0:33:42
We should have designated spaces for vendors, but the Brooklyn Bridge is not among them.
0:33:46
And I hope that my colleagues and the council will work together to find a solution that makes sense for the Brooklyn Bridge.
0:33:51
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1
0:33:53
Great.
0:33:53
Thank you.
0:33:53
I'm now gonna turn it over to my colleague, council member, Dela Rosa, for a statement on her legislation.