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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, DECEMBER 22, 2019
VENI, VEND-I, VICI
Dyker food vendors defeat Brannan with help from disabled veterans
LOOPHOLE: Food vendors say they’re allowed to sling grub in Dyker Heights because of his special veteran license. Photo illustration by John Napoli
BY ROSE ADAMS
Food vendors have outfoxed Dyker
Heights Councilman Justin Brannan
thanks to the help of disabled veterans,
who allow merchants to exploit a loophole
in a new law forbidding food trucks
from idling around the neighborhood’s
iconic holiday lights display.
“We have been told by the police department
that they would not enforce the
vendor ban for the area,” said Josephine
Beckmann, the district manager of the
local community board, who claims that
she sees about two to three vendors in
Dyker Heights every night. “Residents in
the area were hoping for some relief…it’s
very diffi cult.”
The City Council passed legislation
authored by Brannan in October that
prohibits street vendors from operating
in the neighborhood between Thanksgiving
and New Year’s Day.
The legislation was hailed as a victory
for Dyker residents, who had complained
for years that hordes of food vendors had
invaded the area during the holiday season
— when the area is fl ooded by tourists
coming to view the famous ‘Dyker
Lights’ displays.
But Brannan’s legislative victory
was short-lived, and the same vendors
who plagued the neighborhood last year
showed up in early December — this time
in the company of disabled veterans,
who are permitted by state laws dating
back to 1894 to operate as sidewalk merchants
with few exceptions, according to
a Brooklyn Eagle report.
The Councilman laid the blame on
local cops and city agencies, saying the
vendors’ return was due to lax enforcement,
not a legislative loophole.
“It is very frustrating because six million
lawyers looked at this bill before we
got it passed,” he said. “The law is crystal
clear. The city needs to enforce the law as
it was written.”
But police ruled against Brannan,
saying any vendor employing disabled
veterans is free to operate around Dyker
Heights, although a spokesman noted
that one vendor — who not accompanied
by veterans — has been ticketed since
the ban went into effect.
And the owner of Brooklyn Ice Cream
— which operates a fleet of ice cream
trucks in the area and employs 11 disabled
veterans — said Brannan needs to
brush up on the law, and that his business
is perfectly legal thanks to his servicemen
and women behind the counter.
“I know the law better than Justin
Brannan,” he said.