Hudson Yards Food Vendors Protest Being Booted From Longtime Spot

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Three immigrant-run food carts were unfairly displaced from their longtime home outside Hudson Yards, workers alleged Monday, calling it the culmination of years of harassment they received from owners of the luxury megadevelopment.

Starting in 2014, when construction had barely begun on the glassy skyscraper complex, Mohamed Awad began selling hot dogs on the south side of West 33rd Street between 10th and 11th avenues.

He was joined by two other carts selling gyros, falafel and Halal chicken over rice. In the ensuing years, however, Awad and his fellow vendors faced continued harassment from the owners of Hudson Yards, who sent security teams and sometimes police after the vendors, they alleged at a rally Monday.

Then, on March 5, the workers returned to Hudson Yards after weeks of being unable to work due to the pandemic. They found that tree beds had been extended, and a new planter added, to prevent the sidewalk space from being large enough to house the carts.

"We are good people, we’re not selling drugs," Awad said. "We are hot dog guys, that’s it."

The Street Vendor Project, an advocacy group that organized Monday's rally, claims that the tree beds were installed deliberately to displace the vendors, who had no opportunity to express their concerns before the Parks Department issued work permits. The new planter was installed illegally, without permits, they claim.

A Parks Department spokesperson told Patch that the tree pits had been permitted "following our standard process," but confirmed that no permit existed for the planters.

"We understand the concerns shared and we’re actively looking into this situation," spokesperson Megan Moriarty said.

Between the three carts, the displacement has stranded 10 workers — eight of whom are undocumented immigrants, according to a Street Vendor Project spokesperson. The group called on the Parks Department to revoke the permits for the tree beds.

As a protest gesture, they pushed the new planter to the side, allowing them to temporarily re-install a cart in its former place.

A spokesperson for Related Companies, the developer behind Hudson Yards, did not respond to a request for comment.

Part of the nonprofit Urban Justice Center, the Street Vendor Project has worked to raise awareness of the plight faced by more than 10,000 such workers across New York City.

The Hudson Yards vendors, like many of their counterparts, pay tens of thousands of dollars to rent their permits, a costly practice that the city has tried to ease through legislation.

Happening Now! Street Vendors & #FundExcludedWorkers Hunger Strikers gather in Hudson Yards, where vendors have been illegally displaced from their spots by Billionaire Developers Related Companies - losing their jobs after a year w/out any pandemic relief

We are fighting back! pic.twitter.com/IzSXrohOhb
— StreetVendorProject #FundExcludedWorkers (@VendorPower) March 22, 2021