31, DCWPВ conducted 1,508 city street vending inspections and issued 424 tickets for violations including, among many others, vendors not being licensed. During that same period, the NYPD issued 108 civil summons and 14 criminal summons related to street vending, according to the police departmentвЂ™s quarterly reports.ДЄuthorities had eased up on vendor enforcement during the pandemic, but that has changed in recent months: Between June 1 and Aug. The DCWP-formerly the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA)-took over inspection functions previously handled by the NYPD in January, a changeВ celebrated at the time by street vendor advocates and street vendors themselves, because a civilian department would be partially in charge of enforcement.ДCWP didnвЂ™t start actively enforcing vendor violations until June 1, and instead spent the first half of the year conducting educational outreach with vendors and advocates, the agency says, holding 30 вЂњeducation walksвЂќ in popular vendor corridors to disseminate inspection checklists and promote compliance with the rules. Thousands of workers lost their jobs during the pandemic, and many took to the streets to peddle whatever they could: fresh mango slices, watermelon strips for summer thirst, masks, disinfectants, or any other type of goods not yet offered nearby the sidewalk chosen as the point of sale.ДЄs the pandemic changed the nature of street vending in the city, elected officials this year also overhauled how it regulates the industry, shifting enforcement over to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).

Adi TalwarA street vendor at the 207 street subway entrance in Manhattan prior to the pandemic.

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