A scaled-down Corona Plaza street vendor market will reopen Wednesday after a summer crackdown by the city sidelined most of the merchants, New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration said Tuesday.
The reopened market will be managed by an outside operator and faces stricter rules aimed at alleviating community concerns about public safety, sanitation and other “quality-of-life” issues, according to City Hall.
The market will host 14 vendors, up to 10 of whom can sell food. That’s far fewer than the dozens who once congregated at the bustling thoroughfare.
And the hours will now be limited to Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“This new community vending area provides a unique opportunity for street vendors to make a living outside of the shadows and has the potential of serving as a model for other neighborhoods,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, who helmed the new program’s creation.
The arrangement comes after a months-long controversy that left scores of vendors — many of them immigrants — idle and roiled Corona, Queens, one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods and one of the hardest hit by COVID-19.
Merchants in brick-and-mortar shops complained of plaza vendors being too close to their stores, while other residents complained of overcrowding and trash pileups.
City Hall billed the new deal as the city’s first-ever “community vending area” and said the program could be replicated in other neighborhoods with community conflicts over an uptick in street vending.
Corona Plaza’s new outside operator, contracted by the city Department of Transportation, will be responsible for managing vendors and addressing “safety, sanitation, and quality-of-life issues caused by previous unregulated vending,” according to City Hall. The operator will also ensure vendors apply for food vending permits and comply with city fire Department rules.
The Queens Economic Development Corporation will serve as the market’s interim operator…
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