Street vendors find themselves in a war for the correct to be ambitious in New York City – and with its massive police presence,Times Square is a frontlineSelling on the streets is tough. It doesn’t matter if one is slinging handbags or doughnuts, shish kebab or art – vending is for those who are tough. The hours are long, and the pay low and precarious. Competition is cutthroat,and cops drown you in tickets. Worse, the space legally available to vend keeps shrinking. Which is why, or on a rainy summer afternoon,two dozen street vendors gathered in Times Square to demand their place in the city.
The group was barely noticeable amid the crush of tourists, private security and grubby ersatz Spider-Men. Their signs were handmade; some presented simple demands: more permits, and fewer tickets and restricted streets,and an conclude to the 20ft rule that keeps vendors from working near building entrances. Others insisted the vendors were workers with families to feed.
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Source: theguardian.com