Coffee, muffins, bananas, hard-boiled eggs: like him, thousands of “street vendors“, emblematic of the sidewalks of New York, hoped that business would finally resume normally in September.
That’s far from being the case. “My sales are 20, 30% compared to before the pandemic“, notes Abdul Rahman, 44, standing in front of the display where donuts and other sweet pastries are displayed, next to a vat of coffee, which he confides having trouble emptying.
With a wave of his arm, he points to a long line of customers, now imaginary, who once lined up in front of his traveling business.
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Like yellow taxis, small aluminum-colored mobile kiosks are part of the New York landscape.
According to associations that come to their aid, there are 20,000 street vendors in the megalopolis, many of whom are immigrants for whom it is the only way to earn money and do not have a permit. ‘exercise.
On Abdul Rahman’s stand, the city hall permit is clearly visible, as is a photo of his three children, all born in the United States.
It’s been 20 years since the Afghan, who arrived in New York in 1992 to flee the war in his country, settled on this sidewalk of Whitehall Street, south of Manhattan.
A good location, at the foot of office buildings, near a metro exit and not far from the platforms from which the ferries filled with tourists to the Statue of Liberty leave and return, as well as the boats carrying workers from Staten Island.
– Do not stay at home –
Some customers are loyal, like Mike Reyes, a maintenance worker who says he comes every morning. “We need affordable products, like donuts or coffee (at $ 1.25). In town, it is very expensive. So for me, these people (street vendors, editor’s note) are essential“, he explains.
But tourists are still lacking and, as a consequence of the Delta variant, “people work a lot from home“.
According to a survey conducted by the association “Partnership for New York City“, only 23% of the million office workers in Manhattan had returned to the site in August and employers were betting on a rate of 41% at the end of September, well below the two-thirds expected in May.
Cap “NEW“on his head, black mask on his mouth, Abdul Rahman hopes for a return to normal”in October … or January“. “I can hold out if business picks up. But I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future“, he worries, explaining that he relies on his wife’s salary as a teacher to support the family.
In the immediate future, and after fifteen months of inactivity because of the coronavirus, during which he was able to receive public aid, he prefers to come to work from Nassau County, in the east of Long Island, where he lives.
This forces him to get up at 2:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. “It’s better than nothing“, he says, even if his best profits, between 800 and 900 dollars”a good week“, are a distant memory.”If I stay at home, what do I do? It’s too much pressure“.
After 20 years in the profession, Abdul Rahman is thinking of retraining, especially as his back makes him suffer.
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“My wife is trying to help me get a job as a school bus driver but it is only part time“, he explains. And then,”here, I know everyone, I’ve been here for twenty years. It’s a lifetime“.
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