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Perception vs. reality on Roosevelt
Contested study sparks debate between competing Corona street vendors and storefronts
State Senator Jessica Ramos discusses the findings of a study which claims brick-and-mortar businesses and their street vendor counterparts enjoy good relations,
despite opposing views. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
BY MARK HALLUM
Arguments abounded at a
press conference in Corona on
Thursday as activists and State
Senator Jessica Ramos release
the findings of a study which
illustrates a friendly rapport
between street vendors and
brick-and-mortar stores.
The study conducted by
Katherine Wheeler was built
off interviews with storefront
owners and street vendors
to measure how closely they
work together — despite
the perception that the two
business models conflict with
one another.
“We are here to announce
a report that says that our
street vendors are an integral
part of our economy, that their
contributions are so important
that they actually end up
helping and working with
brick-and-mortar businesses
in our district,” Ramos said.
The study, Ramos said,
supports the City Council’s
new initiative to expand the
issuance of vendor permits.
“We want to make sure
that we are enabling the
entrepreneurial spirit of our
immigrants and neighbors
as much as possible,”
Ramos added.
Laura Matute, a street
vendor at Roosevelt Avenue
and Junction Boulevard, said
she has a good relationship
with the staff and owners of
the adjacent Seba Seba. Matute
buys coffee from the corner
establishment and they often
allow her to use the restroom.
“These people are my
friends,” Matute said. “They
watch out for me and I watch
out for them.”
But not everybody agreed
that street vendors do not
cause problems for brick-andmortar
businesses.
The news conference was
punctuated by arguments
between people on the street
in which one business
owner made the statement
that vendors offer unfair
competition without the
added burden of a monthly
rent payment.
Wheeler’s study examined
four corridors across the city
include the span of Roosevelt
Avenue between Jackson
Heights and Corona.
“My empirical, on-theground
research does not in
any way support the claim
that storefront business
view vendors as competitors
and or unfair competitors,”
Wheeler said.
Mohammed Attia, codirector
of the Street Vendor
Project at the Urban Justice
Center, claimed statements by
politicians that street vendors
harm brick-and-mortars
and is advocating for a bill
to overturn a cap on permit
issuances set in 1983.
This bill will get a hearing
in City Council on April 11.
Meanwhile, Ramos said
she is working with newly
appointed MTA President
Patrick Foye on a pilot
program to fill vacancies in
retail spaces owned by the
agency near the 74th Street
– Jackson Heights Station..
Vol. 7 No. 15 56 total pages
/QNS.COM
