PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by George Singleton, President of Disabled Veterans of New York, on Challenges Faced by Disabled Veteran Vendors
1:52:50
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3 min
George Singleton, President of Disabled Veterans of New York, testifies about the challenges faced by disabled veteran vendors in New York City. He emphasizes the need for clearer legislation to protect their rights and priority in vending spots.
- Criticizes the current situation where disabled veterans have to compete with non-veterans and unlicensed vendors for spots
- Calls for the City Council to clarify Resolution 686 and take it to Albany to ensure disabled veterans have the highest priority for vending
- Discusses the loss of vending rights in certain areas after 9/11 and argues for their reinstatement
George Singleton
1:52:50
Good afternoon.
1:52:51
My name is George Singleton.
1:52:53
I'm president of this small organization called Disabled Veterans of New York.
1:52:57
We started last year.
1:52:59
We have no funding, but we have some issues that need to be addressed.
1:53:05
The main issue is our status in the state of this of this state.
1:53:09
If we're disabled veterans, that means that we were issued a hawker's license to sell goods and services because we were physically hurt while we were in the military service.
1:53:21
But to come to this city, that's not what you see.
1:53:24
A disabled veteran go to the corner to get a spot to feed his family.
1:53:28
He's gotta fight with a guy from another country who don't speak English.
1:53:32
He's gotta fight with the police.
1:53:33
He's gotta fight with people who have no license.
1:53:36
I've been vending 23 years.
1:53:38
Should I still have to go through that after 23 years of service?
1:53:41
Come on.
1:53:42
I served honorably.
1:53:43
I served 9 years of service, 4 years active, 5 years reserved.
1:53:47
I shouldn't have to come home to where I live at and have to fight.
1:53:51
I don't think no veteran coming home should have to fight.
1:53:54
So the problem is we need to have it crystal clear from the city council resolution 686.
1:54:01
I need you to take that up to Albany and tell them, make it crystal clear that anybody that reads that law from the business law 35 a, disabled veterans have the highest priority of any veteran in the state of New York.
1:54:15
Make it clear so that there's no discrepancy when the police come to you and said, oh oh, well, who got here first?
1:54:21
Who got here second?
1:54:22
We don't wanna hear that shit.
1:54:23
I'm sorry.
1:54:24
Sorry.
1:54:24
We don't wanna hear that stuff.
1:54:26
When we put our hand up to serve this country, we didn't ask who was who was this, who was that.
1:54:31
We just did it.
1:54:33
We did it to make sure that our family was safe and that everybody else's family was safe.
1:54:37
I think we deserve the right to have that right with that respect.
Robert Holden
1:54:41
Absolutely.
George Singleton
1:54:41
And the next thing, the fact that when 911 happened, we were on the streets out there, and they took away our rights down at World Trade Center and our rights on Heroes Canyon of Broadway because some veterans that came prior to me said that was the only way that we were gonna be able to work in the city was to give up the avenues and give up, the rights to the Canyons Hero and World Trade Center because people were upset because they were selling pictures around ground 0.
1:55:17
After right after it happened, everybody was hot.
1:55:19
Come on.
1:55:20
All the smoke billowing pictures was hanging around, World Trade Center.
1:55:25
So when it went up to Albany 2 years later I mean, in 2004, when they made the law change, that was the main focus.
1:55:32
The focus was, oh, you're selling stuff and you're hurting the people that live at at World Trade Center.
1:55:38
That's over with now.
1:55:39
You got all these other vendors that don't even have a license running around selling stuff illegal spots.
1:55:45
Why is it that only the police come to us?
1:55:48
I I'm just I'm just here for answers because I'm tired of it.
