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Q&A
DSNY's enforcement strategy for street vending
0:38:51
·
78 sec
Deputy Commissioner Joshua Goodman explains DSNY's enforcement strategy for street vending:
- Focus on ensuring clean streets and clear sidewalks
- Addressing vending that doesn't follow city rules
- Taking a warnings-first approach in most cases
- Using written or verbal warnings before taking corrective action
- Corrective actions can include summonsing, confiscation, or on-the-spot corrections for egregious violations
Julie Menin
0:38:51
Moving to enforcement, can you tell us about the enforcement strategy that the agency has?
Joshua Goodman
0:38:58
Of course.
0:38:58
Thank you, Madam Chair.
0:39:00
The enforcement strategy is very straightforward.
0:39:03
New Yorkers deserve clean streets, clear sidewalks.
0:39:06
The city has never historically had a meaningful strategy for dealing with how vending that does not follow the city's rules impacts cleanliness and quality of life.
0:39:15
Ultimately, vending enforcement is a cleanliness issue.
0:39:18
It's an issue of pedestrian accessibility, and it should be treated as such.
0:39:22
We've toured many communities over the two years that DSNY has been the lead agency on coordinating street vending enforcement with elected officials who have asked DSNY to help solve the vending problems that both compete with rule following vendors, right, because a vendor who's trying to follow the rules may be facing unfair competition from a vendor who isn't, brick and mortar businesses and residents.
0:39:43
So we take a warnings first approach at most times in which we either post written warnings in locations ahead of time or issue individualized written or verbal warnings.
0:39:52
But of course, if DSNY encounters a particularly egregious situation when conducting inspections of vending regardless of whether a warning was issued, we will take corrective action.
0:40:01
And that can include summonsing, confiscation, or just an on the spot correction of an unallowed behavior.