NYC street vendor advocates push to lift cap on licenses after Adams veto
Photo by Anton on Unsplash
The city’s street vendors are often in the news for their struggle to stay on the right side of the law–and stay in business. Last month, the City Council passed a bill that would add significantly to the existing caps on licenses and permits for vendors. The New York Times reported that the limit placed on general vendor licenses would be raised to over 11,000 in 2027. By 2031, there would be nearly 17,000 food vendor permits available, and almost 1,300 permits would be set aside for vendors who are veterans or disabled. However, the new law faced another obstacle; it was among 19 bills vetoed by Mayor Eric Adams on his last day in office.
In July, the City Council passed legislation that decriminalized a majority of street vending violations issued in New York City, as 6sqft previously reported.
Intro. 47, sponsored by Queens Council Member Shekar Krishnan, reduced criminal penalties for general and food vendors to civil offenses. This bill, too, was vetoed by then-mayor Adams; the Council overrode the mayor’s veto and will likely do the same for the subsequent law.
In response to Adams’ veto, the Street Vendor Project, a non-profit that advocates for street vendors, said in a statement on Instagram:
“Eric Adams has cemented his legacy as an anti-working-class, anti-immigrant mayor who does not give a damn about the people who run New York City. Street vendor reform is not just about permits–it’s about economic justice, community vitality & whether our city makes room for working-class entrepreneurs to succeed.”
The group said it plans to partner with soon-to-be Council Speaker Julie Menin and Council Member Pierina Ana Sanchez to “uphold the will of the council.” Menin, who is expected to be elected Speaker this week, co-sponsored Sanchez’s bill.
While New York is home to about 20,000 street vendors, there are currently only 6,880 permits for food vendors and 853 general vendor licenses. The new bill lifting the cap on street vendor permits, sponsored by Council Member Sanchez, is intended to address the city’s notable backlog of vendor applicants; according to the New York Times, the city had issued only 15 new licenses in 2025 as of July.
The waiting list for permits is more than 10,000 applicants long, with no new names accepted since 2016, according to the Street Vendor Project.
The Council passed two additional related bills recently; one will set up a Division of Street Vendor Assistance within the Department of Small Business Services. Another will fast-track the license applications of individuals already on the waiting list, requiring the city to make 10,500 general-vending applications available in 2027, and to make 2,200 food-vendor applications available annually between 2026 and 2031.
According to Sanchez, unlicensed vendors are vulnerable to targeting by armed officials. As 6sqft previously reported, the legislation accompanies a recent uptick in NYPD enforcement in recent years: The number of tickets issued to vendors in 2024 was nearly twice the total in the previous year, according to City Limits.
As 96 percent of the city’s street vendors are immigrants, according to the Immigration Research Initiative, criminal penalties raise the risk of deportation under the Trump administration’s attempts to clamp down on immigration.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has expressed support for the legislation. In a post published on X prior to the Council vote, Mamdani said: “My administration will make sure the work doesn’t stop with this bill and guarantee we process new licenses, staff our enforcement agencies, and allow street vendors–the heart of New York City–to operate with dignity.”
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