Fulton St Vendors Get the Boot

Fulton Street Vendors Get The Boot

To revitalize the shooping strip of Fulton St., the city plans to move the street vendors to an empty lot on the corner of Fulton St. and Albany Ave. Which is owned by The Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and leased to the Central Brooklyn Partnership for $2,000 a month for the next year.

The revitalization is part of a $3 million grant through the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. The move date hasn’t been set yet, but those in favor of the change are already singing praises.

“We plan to clean up the streets,” says Councilmember Annette Robinson, who has been involved in the planning. “This includes getting rid of graffiti, revamping the lighting, landscaping and getting rid of the street vendors.”

The 79th Precinct community affairs officer Steven Ruffin stated that once the program begins, vendors must move or face arrest.

“No one wants to play the bad guy. But in this case, their solution is a joke”, as one vendor sees it.

What are you thoughts? Fair or unfair? Will this add to the improvement of Fulton St. or hurt the livelihoods of these vendors?

http://citizenwho.com/2010/05/fulton-street-vendors-get-the-boot/

They have been moving vendors off of Fulton Street for at least 15 years. The Nostrand-Marcy-Thompkins vendors got moved to a little space right near Kingston. Another group got moved into what is currently The Lab, before it was a club. Now they are moving more people off. This too will last for a year or two then they will be back. Part of the cycle of life around here.

Well I think they should stop trying to move people off and just let the hood be what it is! 2 c ;-)

Its a catch 22. If you are someone who runs a business on the street, having a vendor outside your door is a PITA. You are the one who gets the tickets from sanitation, who has to pay staff, overhead, taxes, etc and the vendors are cluttering up your sidewalk and in some cases, taking your customers. I see both sides of the issue, so don't necessarily think that moving them is a bad thing.

Who is really going to go to Albany and Fulton though

Well, all the people who live between the Kingston-Throop and Utica Avenue stops will have new vendors to enjoy on their walk home. For everyone else, they're stuck with the brick and mortar businesses on Fulton.