There are more than 10,000 street vendors in NYC and thanks to their offerings I’ve consumed a truckload of hot dogs, falafel, biryani, sunglasses, and handbags. But selling things from a table or cart isn’t as simple as it seems. Vendors are fined $1000 for small violations, like parking their cart too far from the curb, and many vendors don’t know their rights when confronted by police. The rulebook of legal code is intimidating and hard to understand by anyone, let alone someone whose first language isn’t English. To address these problems, I collaborated with Sean Basinski of The Street Vendor Project and Rosten Woo and John Mangin of the Center for Urban Pedagogy to develop and design this fold-out guide. Vendors’ rights and the most commonly violated rules are illustrated and include minimal text in English, Bengali, Chinese, Arabic, and Spanish. The guide also includes a 32″ x 22″ advocacy poster directed towards all street vendor fans that features personal stories from vendors, history, fun facts, and policy reform recommendation (lift license caps, increase street access, reduce the fines, reform administration and enforcement). Thousands of copies were distributed to street vendors for free, and the guide is available for $6 in CUP’s online store. Hang the poster up and show your love for street vendors too! Part of CUP’s Making Policy Public series, 2009.
Download a pdf version!
Read my article about the process on the Urban Omnibus!
32″ x 22″ fold-out poster is printed on heavy 80 lb. Lynx Brightwhite Smooth matte paper stock by Westcan/Printcrafters Inc.
The word on the street: The New York Times, New York Magazine, TYPO Magazine, Communication Arts, BLDGBLOG.
This project will be featured in the 2010 National Design Triennial by the Smithsonian, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum!
Tickets from street vendors – mostly for parking their cart too far from the curb, parking on restricted streets, parking too close to a storefront, and not “conspicuously” wearing their license
Typical page from current regulation book. Snap!
Meeting with street vendors to develop the guide
Distribution event, 2009. Vendor photos by CUP
The team: Sean Basinski, Rosten Woo, John Mangin, and Candy Chang
And something Sean recently found from 1905:
“I think it would be a great advantage to all the peddlers to have a translated copy of the license issued. As it is, some of the Italians cannot understand the regulations of the road and the ordinances of the City. If it were printed in English…in Yiddish…in Greek, Italian and Syrian for the others it would prove to be a great aid to them.”
- Rev. Bernardino Polizzo, 1905, during a hearing on the pushcart menace
Hello from Sweden!
I found you on TED and that your location is not so far from mine!
This is a fantastic project!
I always think that the society is like a cellphone or computer interface in the sense that the society also need more design factors for people to live comfortably in. But the laws and policies are so tedious for an average person to follow that they seem to be made for people to break and get fined. Something really should be done about it!
This project is fantastic. It is one step forward to turning an ideology into reality!
I hope there will be more projects like this everywhere in the world.
Wish you every success!
Hey Birdon – thanks! That’s a great analogy, how can we design better UI and UX for navigating your rights and understanding of the city… I’m trying to find more ways to do projects like this, one step at a time… Keep in touch!
[...] Candy Chang] Comments [...]
Dear Sir,
I came accross your website!
Some years ago I started a website http://www.streetvendors.info a portal from and for street vendors, world wide.
My aim is to help young and starting entrepreneurs to give them to possibility to get a free access to find markets, festivals and all kinds of information to promote their products.
There are many youngsters, with so many nice ideas, self made products, acts or musicians, traveling arround the world not realy having any idea where to go or what all the problems, possibilities or rules are. For most cities in Europe, you need a licence to be a street vendor. But their are so many markets and evnts where travelers can sell their product or do their act. Many Europeans go to the USA Australia, India or Asia, during the winter and visa versa. Where to go? Streetvendors can be a solution!
I like to connect all street vendors actors, musicians and give them access to our site to give them the possibility to “link” their websites for free to promote their products.
(To place a link is free, for the time being and in future we will charge a small fee to place banners)
In return, anyone can donate information, as upcoming events, photo’s, anecdotes, funny stories or warnings about police actions where street selling is prohobited.
I should highly appriciate to place my link at your website and like to ask you if you want to place ours in return too?
I should realy like that starting entrepreneurs will find each other and get knowlage of products abroad and the way of trade in other countries!
Awaiting your reply,
Thank you and best regards,
Ronald Huisman
Kentra Ltd
Anthony Fokkerweg 7
1422 AE Netherlands
+31 297 525900
Info@streetvendors.info
[...] you haven’t noticed through her work with street vendors and the Center For Urban Pedagogy (here) or through her thoughtfully unique and simple tools for gather information about a [...]