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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dylan DelliSanti, Economist at Institute for Justice, on Street Vending Economic Impact
3:40:54
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117 sec
Dylan DelliSanti, an economist from the Institute for Justice, presents research findings on the economic impact of street vending. He argues that increasing the number of mobile food vendors does not negatively affect brick-and-mortar businesses and emphasizes the complementary nature of these two types of establishments.
- Street vending is presented as a pipeline to greater economic opportunity, citing examples like Nathan's Hotdogs.
- The study found no decrease in brick-and-mortar establishments as mobile food vendors increased.
- DelliSanti supports Intro 431, which would increase the number of vending licenses available.
Dylan DelliSanti
3:40:54
Hi there.
3:40:55
My name is Dylan Dellisanti.
3:40:56
I am an economist at the Institute for Justice.
3:40:59
We're a public interest law firm that defends the rights of Americans everywhere to earn an honest living.
3:41:04
Over the last ten, fifteen years, we've done a great deal of research looking into the safety of street vending food and the contribution that street vendors make to the local economy.
3:41:15
And I wanted to call attention to a study that was published about three years ago that looked into this question of whether or not street vendors took away, stole business from brick and mortar counterparts.
3:41:25
And what we found is that as there was an increase in mobile food vendors, there was no subsequent decrease in brick
3:41:31
establishments.
3:41:33
This might seem a little counterintuitive, but if you think about it, street vendors, brick and mortar businesses are selling two different types of goods.
3:41:41
If you want a Michelin dining experience, probably want to go somewhere with air conditioning.
3:41:47
If you want something more affordable, a street vendor might make more sense for you.
3:41:51
It's also important to recognize that street vendors themselves, if they are empowered economically, they have money to spend that goes back into the local economy.
3:42:00
And street vendors of course are going to choose to locate in places that are more complementary to their business.
3:42:06
The bookseller who spoke earlier mentioned that he didn't feel like the street vendors detracted from their business, they probably added to the vitality of the neighborhood by offering a complementary product.
3:42:16
And I'd to call attention to another way in which street vendors and brick and mortars have a symbiotic relationship.
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Street vending is something of a pipeline into greater economic opportunity.
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I think everybody in New York is probably familiar with Nathan's Hotdogs which started in Coney Island selling, you know, hot dogs from a postcard.
3:42:36
Basically, every person in this room wearing a yellow cap, every street vendor here who came in today has this sort of unbounded economic potential that we will not be able to recognize unless we lift the caps.
3:42:48
So for that reason, we support Intro four thirty one.
3:42:51
Thank
Scott Foletta
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and mortar