Street vendors claim police are targeting and harassing them

There are a lot of street vendors in Uniondale — at least according to the Nassau County Police Department.

But is it safe? Is it hindering traffic? Are pedestrians in any danger? Are the vendors creating unfair competition?

Those are the kinds of calls law enforcement receives practically every day, primarily from business owners reporting vendors setting up stands near their storefronts. The department, however, seeks to strike a balance between supporting businesses and ensuring vendors operate lawfully.

Food vendors must obtain permits and follow guidelines, according to the county health department, such as wearing disposable gloves or using suitable utensils to handle all ready-to-eat food. They also need to wear a clean apron over street clothes, and maintaining clean and sanitary food service operations.

But it’s not just police receiving calls about vendors. So is Pearl Jacobs. The same business owners have reached out to the Nostrand Gardens Civic Association president expressing concerns about how many street vendors there are.

“I receive calls … several times a day,” Jacobs said, “and it’s not that the people are calling me against the street vendors. They’re talking about health and safety and oversight.”

Despite the permit requirement, vendors can easily set up shop without them.

“Last week I saw signs that said ‘seafood,’ and thought there was a new seafood spot open,” Jacobs said. “But I turned the corner, looked around, and there was someone there with a giant cooler selling fish. We can’t have that.”

But “safety” is usually a word thrown around too much to harass what’s otherwise legitimate — and legal — businesses, according to Danny Perez. He owns and operates 10 licensed booths throughout Uniondale, and has called such claims “lies.”

“The police come around and ask for our license, and we give it to them,” he said. “But then they’re looking to try and find other things, trying to get us on something.”

Perez claims police in the past have accused him and his workers of having fake licenses and documentation, threatening them with arrest and other legal consequences if they don’t pack up and leave.

“They lie because they think we don’t know anything, that we don’t know the law, that we don’t know our rights,” Perez said. “We have to keep moving. It’s better to stay in one spot, so people know where to come to find you. But it’s very hard when somebody clearly doesn’t want you to be here.”

However, according to the Nassau County Police Department, they are simply doing their job. A spokesperson told the Uniondale Herald Beacon in a statement that officers are operating within the law, and that, “we are just responding to the calls that we receive.”

Street vendors are prohibited from selling goods within 1,000 feet of public places such as parks, schools and churches. They can, however, sell goods in other zoning districts, as long as they do not violate regulations by setting up their carts in a way that blocks sidewalks, fail to adhere to sanitary requirements, or operate in a way that is “noisy or disruptive.”

When police force them to move, Perez says they don’t even give an explanation.

“They just say we’re not allowed here and to find another place,” he said.

In the end, Perez and vendors like him say they simply want to operate their businesses in peace, without having to work in fear every day of being shut down.

“I run a legitimate business,” he said, “just like everyone else.”