July 2, 2009: Vol. 32, No. 26

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July 2, 2009 / Not Just Nets / Perspective / Atlantic Yards / Letters

Web readers ask: What’s so bad about street food vendors

The Brooklyn Paper

Our online story about a Bay Ridge group’s efforts to ban food vending (“Sh-WAR-ma! Ridge group seeks city ban on food vendors,” June 26) received an astounding number of comments. Here’s a fair synopsis.

It’s amazing how these community boards, business improvement districts, whatever, will take the ill-founded complaints of one or two people who don’t like competition and generalize them into “a community-wide problem.” The only people complaining about street vendors are two store owners. Everyone else thinks they’re great.

Big V from Park Slope

Brooklyn Bridge Realty

Store owners would rather complain about competition than improve their products. If supermarkets had decent produce and if restaurants had food that could match the street vendors’ offerings, this wouldn’t be a problem.

Ben K. from Park Slope

Yep, rent-seeking pure and simple. When you can’t compete, you get the state to destroy your competition for you. OTOH, I have my own problems with vendors, not in Bay Ridge where the sidewalks are generally nice and wide, but in places like lower Broadway and the Village where you have to walk in the street because there’s not enough room on the sidewalk.

Rhywun from Bay Ridge

BoroDeal

Please don’t take away my beloved street meat. The guy on 86th Street and Fifth Avenue next to Chase is the best!

Steve from Bay Ridge

Yeeesh, the kebab place just opened three months ago and already decided that vendors are swiping their business? Sounds like they can’t compete and can’t shut down the other shops so they are hitting the vendors. That stinks. We started to go there because it was right near the train, but we’re crossing them off our list.

Gourmand from Bay Ridge

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