Sanitation police ticket, confiscate products from vendors in the Bronx
A handful of food vendors watched carts, tables and coolers be taken away by officers, with some receiving $1,000 fines for either not having a license or having an expired license.
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Sanitation police hauled away merchandise and ticketed vendors along Fordham Road in the Bronx in an ongoing crackdown against street vendors.
The Department of Sanitation tells News 12 that this is a routine operation in the Bronx, particularly in the Fordham Road area where enforcement takes place three to four times a week.
A handful of food vendors watched carts, tables and coolers be taken away by officers, with some receiving $1,000 fines for either not having a license or having an expired license.
The DSNY began overseeing street vendors back in April and says the agency's job is to ensure all vendors are complying with the safety and cleanliness rules.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is in charge of issuing those vendor licenses, and many vendors who spoke with News 12 say the waiting game has gone on for years due to limited numbers of licenses.
"I've been vending for 30 years, and I am still on the waiting list," says vendor Miriam Salina.
The vendors must pay their tickets and a storage fee to get their items back - and many of them say it takes weeks of work just to make up the amount they now owe.
The DSNY tells News 12 that it opts to take a "warnings first" approach regarding vendors.
