A Chat with Sean Basinski

Sean Basinski, Director of the Vendor Street Project, is doing everything he can to give the 10,000 New York City immigrant vendors a voice.

Sean Basinski founded the Vendor Street Project after working as a vendor himself for a summer, and realized vendors had no way to communicate to each other and to the city. Trying to make a change, Sean and NYC vendors are now using this “union” to try to expose discrimination, change policies and regulations, and have a place where they can support one another.

Sean attended law school and even worked on Wall Street, but after selling burritos on the corner of Park Avenue and 52nd Street, Sean saw how difficult life as a vendor really is. Sean is trying to reveal the constant discrimination vendors face from the city and the health department, trying to open up more streets for vendors to sell their products, expand the number of vendor permits allowed and reduce the cost of fines for tickets.

One of the main problems is that English is usually not the first language for a vendor. Also, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in June 2007, the city capped the number of vendor permits available. There is also a 2,500 person limit to the number of people allowed on the waiting list for full term permits, and so even getting on the waiting list is difficult.

Sean also commented that big businesses often complain that street vendors are able to afford to sell food at a lower price, making it hard for some restaurants to compete, and take up room on the sidewalk and clutter the streets. The Vendor Street Project is trying convince the city that street vendors are important and add personality to streets in a big city. Sean and the street vendors claim they should have more accessibility to permits because they are a sort of “neighborhood watch.” Street vendors are on the streets everyday, recognize locals and even see activities that the typical New Yorker may be too busy to notice—and can be reliable witnesses to crimes and drug deals. Sean is using this argument to show the city that street vendors can be helpful and an addition to the police department, and should not be treated as a threat.

Sean is celebrating his seventh year since starting the Vendor Street Project. In December, Sean will travel to Legos, Nigeria and document the half-million street vendors there to continue his mission of revealing the hardships of being a street vendor universally.