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AGENCY TESTIMONY
Department of Sanitation's role in street vending enforcement
0:22:09
·
3 min
Joshua Goodman, Deputy Commissioner of Public Affairs and Customer Experience at the New York City Department of Sanitation, testifies about DSNY's role as the lead agency for coordinating enforcement of street vending rules. He explains their approach to enforcement, focusing on cleanliness, street passability, and quality of life issues.
- DSNY has conducted over 8,000 inspections and issued about 5,000 summonses in fiscal year 2025 so far.
- Enforcement is civil in nature, with a warnings-first approach and a focus on situations that compromise public safety or sanitation.
- Goodman expresses concerns about Intro 1164, which would require an interagency portal for sharing street vending enforcement information, deeming it unnecessary at this time.
Joshua Goodman
0:22:09
Good morning, chairman and members of the committee on consumer and worker protection and the wide array of New Yorkers who have joined us today.
0:22:15
I'm Joshua Goodman, deputy commissioner of public affairs and customer experience at the New York City Department of Sanitation.
0:22:20
In April of twenty twenty three, Mayor Adams designated DSNY as the agency with primary responsibility for coordinating enforcement of the city's rules around street vending, particularly around cleanliness, street passability, and quality of life.
0:22:35
The mayor designated DSNY for this role because we are uniquely positioned to enforce these kinds of rules.
0:22:40
We have a uniformed police force of trained and licensed peace officers, but we also have substantial experience protecting and enforcing access to our streets and sidewalks.
0:22:50
Over the last two years, we have leveraged this experience successfully, and having the Department of Sanitation serve as the lead agency on this incredibly complex issue means that this work is done thoughtfully with a focus on balancing the needs of vendors, brick and mortar businesses, and communities at large.
0:23:05
Our enforcement work is rooted in the belief that all New Yorkers across every neighborhood in every borough deserve clean, safe sidewalks.
0:23:14
We take a warnings first approach, often posting dozens of warning signs throughout an area before taking any enforcement actions.
0:23:21
But we also engage in robust enforcement to protect cleanliness and quality of life.
0:23:25
This enforcement is civil in nature, and sanitation police, as a general rule, do not make arrests.
0:23:32
In fiscal year twenty twenty five so far, the 35 sanitation police assigned to street vending enforcement have conducted more than 8,000 inspections, issued approximately 5,000 summonses, and donated or composted about one and a quarter million pounds of food that was either abandoned or being vended illegally.
0:23:51
Generally, about one quarter of summonses issued by DSNY are for unlicensed vending.
0:23:56
The overwhelming passage of Proposition two in November 2024 shows that this work is resonating with the public.
0:24:03
This measure gives DSNY the ability to enforce street vendor rules in public areas that are not streets.
0:24:09
However, at this time we have not yet used this authority and are developing a plan for implementation.
0:24:14
In any case, the passage of Proposition two is evidence that New Yorkers support ongoing enforcement of these laws, as is the continued volume of requests for enforcement that we receive via three eleven, from community groups, and in particular from members of this council.
0:24:30
While DSNY does not set the laws or penalties, we are responsible for fair and consistent enforcement, particularly in cases where public safety or sanitation is compromised.
0:24:40
We enforce these laws with a focus on situations where vending has created dirty conditions, safety issues, items being left out overnight, setups that block curbs, subway entrances, bus stops, sidewalks, or store entrances.
0:24:52
Several of the bills on the agenda today deal with issues of licensure, and we will yield to our agency partners to speak about them.
0:24:58
One bill, Intro eleven sixty four, sponsored by Councilmember Areola, does deal with enforcement requiring the development of an interagency portal for sharing street vending enforcement information.
0:25:07
This bill duplicates much of the work of the Office of Street Vendor Enforcement, legislating a tech solution to a problem that we have not encountered in a systemic way.
0:25:16
DSNY does, of course, share data with relevant agencies, and they with us, but as the lead agency on vending enforcement, this is done at a staff level.
0:25:23
Given fiscal and time impact of this bill, and the fact that significant data is already on open data, we feel it is unnecessary at this time.
0:25:31
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
0:25:33
I look forward to taking your questions.
0:25:35
And now I will pass it over to my colleagues from New York City Small Business Services for their testimony.