NEW YORK (PIX11) -- The writing is on the wall - or, in this case, the fence along the Brooklyn Bridge pathway.
Vendors are now banned, effective Wednesday, from doing business there. It’s the result of the city’s decision to free up space on the chronically crowded pathway, a tourist favorite.
Soledad and her husband are Colombian migrants who paid $250 a day to a military veteran with a vendor license so that they could sell their merchandise.
“They haven’t slept in two days because they’ve been worried. And they can’t get rid of the stuff because they paid a lot of money for it,” a translator for Soledad said.
At the end of every shift, Soledad said they pick up their two sons and return to a homeless shelter where they’ve lived for the last several months.
“The idea is to not live there anymore, get out, and see if they can rent an apartment,” Soledad's translator said.
Enforcement began just after midnight Wednesday.
New signs are posted notifying vendors that any confiscated property can be retrieved at a city DOT facility on the other side of the bridge in Brooklyn.
The agency released a statement that reads in part:
"The new rule was developed through careful multi-agency coordination, and as pedestrian counts on the Brooklyn Bridge continue to rise, with an average of 34,000 pedestrians on an average fall weekend day, comparing to 17,000 in just 2021."
Patricia, a former New Yorker, said she sees both sides of the issue.
“For me, as a tourist or as a person living here, I don’t care. But I’m also aware that’s how some people make a living,” said Patricia.
Several military veteran vendors, with the assistance of the Street Vendor Project, said they’re suing the city.
“We have some areas on the bridge where it’s 16 feet wide. This is really enough space for vendors to set up and work in a lawful way while also ensuring that pedestrians have access,” said Mohamad Attia, managing director of the Street Vendor Project.
Soledad and her husband are now looking for a new opportunity in their new homeland, hoping the bridge vending ban is just a temporary roadblock to their American Dream.
"It’s everything because she and her husband have to feed the kids. This is how they make a living, basically,” the translator for Soledad said.
New York City Council member Gale Brewer is working on legislation that she hopes can strike a compromise between the city and vendors. It would create a designated space for vendors – only in the widest sections of the pathway, with the vendors located at least 20 feet apart.
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