Almost all street vendors in New York are immigrants: report

By the Immigration Research Initiative

From the vendors who sell jewelry and souvenirs, to the classic hot dog stands and food trucks that serve tourists and attract foodies from across the world, to the women selling refreshing fruits to sustain working New Yorkers, street vendors are a staple of New York City life. The streets of New York have always provided a means to earn money for entrepreneurs who range from people with a small side-hustle to long-established small business owners.

The report “Street Vendors of New York”  is based on data collected from a comprehensive survey administered to more than 2,000 street vendors in 2021 by the Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center. The survey data was analyzed by the Immigration Research Initiative using statistical weights provided by Jonathan Auerbach from George Mason University so that the findings in this report represent the approximately 23,000 street vendors that operate in New York City.

The following sections highlight the main findings of that analysis. The study was issued on September 17, 2014.

23,000 street vendors in NYC

Street vendors are often small business owners that have a significant economic impact on the New York City economy. There is such a complicated patchwork of New York City and State laws and restrictions around vending that being a fully permitted and licensed vendor can be very difficult. This also makes it difficult to know the exact number of street vendors that operate throughout the city, as many vendors are unlicensed or unpermitted and are missing from administrative datasets. Additionally, it is difficult to identify street vendors from federal surveys, such as the American Community Survey administered by the Census Bureau.

Jonathan Auerbach’s study finds that there are approximately 23,000 street vendors operating throughout the five boroughs, the overwhelming majority of which are mobile food vendors (20,500). An additional 2,400 are general merchandise vendors. The total is rounded 23,000 vendors.

Nearly all vendors are immigrants

The overwhelming majority of the small business owners and the people who work for them as merchandise and food vendors in New York are immigrants. Ninety-six percent were born in a country outside of the United States. The U.S.-born share represents only 4 percent of street vendors or, put differently, only 4 out of every 100 street vendors, who are not veterans, were born in the United States.

Street vending is a common pathway to entrepreneurship for many immigrants because of its comparatively low start-up costs and some other low barriers to entry. However, permitting and licensing caps can inhibit growth and prevent many from meeting the proper standards.

Among immigrants who are mobile food vendors, 39 percent are naturalized citizens or permanent residents, 27 percent report that they are undocumented, and 30 percent prefer not to answer. Among general merchandise vendors who are immigrants, about two thirds (67 percent) are naturalized citizens or permanent residents, 13 percent report that they are undocumented, and 19 percent prefer not to answer.

Street vendors come from across the world

Sixty countries were represented by the vendors who participated in this survey, and 16 of these countries were represented by 10 or more vendors.

The majority of vendors in this survey hailed from Central and South American countries, as well as North and West Africa, and East and South Asia. The top five countries of origin for all street vendors are Mexico (30 percent), Ecuador (24 percent), Egypt (20 percent), Senegal (7 percent), and the United States (4 percent).

What street vendors sell

Mobile food vendors reported selling 21 different types of foods, ranging from Latin American food, to classic American fast-food like hot dogs. There are both similarities and differences in the goods sold by vendors who are permitted/licensed and those who are not.

Halal carts are prominent in the list of both food vendors with and without permits, topping the list and making up 26 percent of those with permits. Among permitted vendors, the other popular items are hot dogs and pretzels, bagels and muffins and coffee.

Among unpermitted carts, it’s the Latin American foods that top the list, with 33 percent selling arepas, tacos, or chuzos. Cut fruits and ice cream are also high on the list among unpermitted food vendors.

The highest share of merchandise vendors sell accessories such as hats, scarves, jewelry, sunglasses or handbags: this is true for both licensed vendors (79 percent) and unlicensed (35 percent). The next highest category for both licensed and unlicensed vendors is general clothing (8 percent for licensed vendors, 29 percent for unlicensed).

The biggest divergence between licensed and unlicensed vendors is that licensed vendors are more likely to sell electronics and religious items, while unlicensed vendors are more likely to sell flowers and toys. Both sell clothing specific to a country or culture.

This survey was done during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of the vendors, especially unlicensed vendors, were selling personal protective equipment, such as masks, during this time. That is not included in the analysis here since it was very specific to that time. But it is also interesting to note that vendors can be immediately responsive to specific needs that arise.

Where vendors work

There are vendors doing businesses all across the city, though there are clear areas where street vendors are clustered. Manhattan has the largest share of both mobile food vendors (46 percent) and general merchandise vendors (61 percent). The share is second highest in Queens (33 for mobile food vendors and 23 percent for general merchandise vendors). While there are some vendors located on Staten Island, the sample in this survey is too small for a full analysis. These findings are underscored by Professor Auerbach’s report, which demonstrates that one third of vendors are located in the Queens zip codes: 11368 (16 percent), 11372 (3 percent), and 11354 (3 percent).

The borough-level analysis gives a broad picture, but a neighborhood-by-neighborhood look gives a more detailed picture. Here, Corona, Jackson Heights and Flushing stand out for their high concentration of mobile food vendors, as does Harlem for general merchandise vendors.

Most vendors lack access to a restroom

Unlike business owners with storefronts who have physical shelter from conditions like inclement weather and extreme weather events, street vendors, by definition, do not have these protections. Street vendors also lack access to other basic amenities that come with working indoors such as access to restrooms. Overall, 63 percent of vendors lack access to a restroom. This is an issue that stands out especially for mobile food vendors; most general merchandise vendors reported that they do have access to a bathroom.

Conclusion

Before this survey was undertaken much about these business owners was unknown. We now have an empirically grounded, large-scale survey that gives detailed insight into who vendors are and how they work and live.

This incredible diversity is a testament to the economic opportunity that this industry offers to immigrants and the City of New York that provides the setting for these communities as they establish roots and settle in America, and in the process add to the street life of the city.

Read the full report here:  www.immresearch.org/publications/street-vendors-of-new-york/

Principal Author: Shamier Settle, Senior Policy Analyst, Immigration Research Initiative.

Contributors:  David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director, Immigration Research Initiative

Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, Deputy Director, Street Vendor Project

Mohamed Attia, Managing Director, Street Vendor Project

Jonathan Auerbach, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics, George Mason University