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Forsyth Market Produce Vendors Fighting Back

6:09am July 21st, 2011 | 5 Comments

For the last month, we’ve kept a watchful eye on the plight of Forsyth Street fruit and vegetable vendors just below Canal.  A number of readers wrote in expressing concern over the disappearance of numerous peddlers here at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge.  Authorities have already begun cracking down, issuing a barrage of tickets, some of which are for heaping mounds of trash. And just yesterday, the Urban Justice Center staged a press conference onsite, while vendors protested the crackdown.

In tandem with the yesterday’s event, the Street Vendor Project subsidiary released press materials that shovel deeper into the crux of this issue.  Sean Basinski and company unearthed empirical evidence after a three-month study of the local produce market.  Apparently some 2,000 tickets have been issued in the last two years to merchants along this block.  According to the report, the aggressive enforcement of late “has driven vendors out of business, diminished themarket, and curbed access to healthy food for Chinatown residents.”  The pro-vendor organization compares the Union Street Market with the Forsyth Market, claiming the former is treated more fairly and not subject to the same surveillance.

The press release includes the following history of the market:

Forsyth Street Market started in 2005, when a group of vendors were relocated from Division Street to the then-desolate, curved block along the base of the Manhattan Bridge. The vendors had gained popularity for their exceptionally low prices, which catered to ―elderly people and poor workers in the neighborhood. However, their presence had also drawn complaints from the managers of Confucius Plaza, the large housing complex nearby. After coaxing from the Mayor’s office and, finally, the construction of bollards that blocked their access to the curb
the vendors moved to Forsyth Street.

You can read the full report from the Street Vendor Project below. It’s worth it:

Spoiled Report Final

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Filed under: Food
  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BJF4PCSJKXIG4JAIHWQCW64DQU soothsayer

    Comparing them to the union square greenmarket is silly ensuring slippery red herring arguments to follow.  

    the main issues with the forsyth vendors is accountability, and SANITATION. 

    the union square “green”market vendors are overseen by some sort of agency that  makes sure the  produce that are for sale at the greenmarkets is held to a certain standard.  the rotten produce sellers on forsyth are not held to any standard, some of them do not have proper documentation and are unaccountable to nobody. 

    secondly, the union square greenmarket cleans up after itself.  the rotten produce resellers currently located on forsyth st leaves all their garbage behind.  they are supposed to hire private carting companies to clean up the street, but many have failed to do so. This in turn causes sanitation and quality of life issues as rodents move in because of the mess. btw, to the trolls that simply dismiss chinatown as a smelly rotten place, go fuck yourselves.  that’s all i gotta say.  

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BJF4PCSJKXIG4JAIHWQCW64DQU soothsayer

    Comparing them to the union square greenmarket is silly ensuring slippery red herring arguments to follow.  

    the main issues with the forsyth vendors is accountability, and SANITATION. 

    the union square “green”market vendors are overseen by some sort of agency that  makes sure the  produce that are for sale at the greenmarkets is held to a certain standard.  the rotten produce sellers on forsyth are not held to any standard, some of them do not have proper documentation and are unaccountable to nobody. 

    secondly, the union square greenmarket cleans up after itself.  the rotten produce resellers currently located on forsyth st leaves all their garbage behind.  they are supposed to hire private carting companies to clean up the street, but many have failed to do so. This in turn causes sanitation and quality of life issues as rodents move in because of the mess. btw, to the trolls that simply dismiss chinatown as a smelly rotten place, go fuck yourselves.  that’s all i gotta say.  

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BJF4PCSJKXIG4JAIHWQCW64DQU soothsayer

    Comparing them to the union square greenmarket is silly ensuring slippery red herring arguments to follow.  

    the main issues with the forsyth vendors is accountability, and SANITATION. 

    the union square “green”market vendors are overseen by some sort of agency that  makes sure the  produce that are for sale at the greenmarkets is held to a certain standard.  the rotten produce sellers on forsyth are not held to any standard, some of them do not have proper documentation and are unaccountable to nobody. 

    secondly, the union square greenmarket cleans up after itself.  the rotten produce resellers currently located on forsyth st leaves all their garbage behind.  they are supposed to hire private carting companies to clean up the street, but many have failed to do so. This in turn causes sanitation and quality of life issues as rodents move in because of the mess. btw, to the trolls that simply dismiss chinatown as a smelly rotten place, go fuck yourselves.  that’s all i gotta say.  

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