Por Sarah Maslin Nir / The New York Times
Steven Heng, a tourist from Lyon, France, visited the Brooklyn Bridge on January 2 not only to see the famous pointed arches, metal cable trellises and panoramic views. He also came shopping, before it was too late.
That day was the last for scores of souvenir vendors who have illegally set up shop along the platform, turning the bridge into a 1,800-meter-long shopping center over the East River. New City rules designed to relieve congestion have gone into effect and prohibit sales on the City’s 789 bridges.
Heng, 33, had 20 friends in France expecting trinkets from his trip; he had read about the elimination of the stallholders and hurried to the bridge. “We’re buying everything,” he said, holding up two Christmas decorations featuring the Empire State Building in a wreath and a mini Statue of Liberty, all for just $10. “This is a lot cheaper than Times Square.”
On weekends, almost 35,000 people a day can cross the platform on the 141-year-old bridge that connects Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn Heights, reports the New York City Department of Transportation. Above the river, the wooden plank platform is about 5 meters wide and since 2021 it has been free of bicycle traffic.
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But near the coast and around the stanchions, the platform can be less than 2 meters wide. Combining the tight space with tourists browsing the items for sale, the platform frequently suffered from traffic jams.
After the City banned bicycles, moving them to a protected lane on the road below, the cleared space allowed street vendors to thrive. Many are undocumented and barely speak enough English to haggle.
Even permitted vendors are now banned from the bridge, although many of those selling trinkets did not have permission to operate. (Some estimates have put the number of street vendors in the City at over 20,000, although the City maintains a cap of about 6,000 permits, mostly for food vendors.)
On his last day selling caps and King Kong figurines, Christian Acosta said he feared for his fellow vendors, especially since there are very few who can obtain permits to legally sell elsewhere. There are others who will suffer, he said in Spanish: “their families.”
Gary Randle, 45, a tourist from Wales, said in response to the ban: “It’s a shame. “These people are trying to make a living.”
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But Muhammed Abbas, 30, disagreed. At his home in Kafr El Dawar, Egypt, the bridges are packed with street vendors. “I’m not in favor of it,” he said, although he himself makes a living selling New York Yankees caps and other items on the bridge.
On the final day, Luis Mendoza, 41, operated a 3-D photo booth, where visitors could take a video set to the music of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.” Starting the next day, Mendoza would focus on his second job as a contractor, he said.
“I will really miss being here,” he said in Spanish. “I will come as a tourist.”
© 2023 The New York Times Company
2024-01-17 10:09:12
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