Council Passes Fine Relief For Street Vendors But Not Brick-And-Mortars; Gentile Asks, “Does that seem fair to you?”

By on March 1, 2013  Business
Mar 012013
 
These posters shamed Council Speaker and Mayoral candidate Christine Quinn into enacting legislation lowering the maximum fine for street vendors. But Bay Ridge Councilman Vincent Gentile says brick-and-mortar retailers face the same problems. (Photo source: The Street Vendor Project)

These posters shamed Council Speaker and Mayoral candidate Christine Quinn into enacting legislation lowering the maximum fine for street vendors. But Bay Ridge Councilman Vincent Gentile says brick-and-mortar retailers face the same problems. (Photo source: The Street Vendor Project)

On Wednesday, the City Council approved a bill that would reduce the maximum fine given to street vendors for blocking the sidewalk in half from $1,000 to $500. The bill – introduced over two years ago but spent most of that time languishing in committee – moved quickly through the Council in the past two weeks after the Street Vendor Project publicly shamed Council Speaker Christine Quinn into action. Quinn is the leading candidate for Mayor in this September’s Democratic primary, according to a poll released yesterday by Quinnipiac.

Bay Ridge Councilmember Vincent Gentile stood nearly alone in opposition, casting one of only three “no” votes against 44 in favor. Gentile has long held the view that street vendors have played by rules that grant them preferential treatment, while traditional brick-and-mortar stores have had to contend with a hostile tax and regulatory environment, and that bills such as this exacerbate the double-standard.

“Earlier this month, a small business owner in my district was fined $1,000 when her $30 pet grooming license expired,” Gentile said in a written statement. “Does that seem fair to you?” Continue reading »

Councilman Gentile’s Office Calls For Level Playing Field Between Food Carts, Storefront Businesses

By on May 18, 2012  Business
May 182012
 

You can "Like" the Middle Eastern Halal Food cart on Facebook. No comment from Facebook if they will add an option to "move a park bench in front of" this page.

“Plain and simple: we need to level the playing field.”

That’s what Justin Brannan, press secretary for Councilman Vincent Gentile, said to us when asked to comment on last week’s developments in the conflict between Bay Ridge’s food carts and brick-and-mortar restaurants.

Councilman Gentile has often been reported as opposing food carts in the BID, and made comments on the issue at the Community Board 10 general meeting in April. We reached out to Brannan, wanting to know what specific proposals the Councilman was offering.

“The mobile food vendors of today should be held to the same standards as any brick and mortar restaurant,” Brannan continued. “To that end, Councilman Gentile co-sponsored and strongly supports Councilman Daniel Garodnick’s proposed legislation which would require mobile food vendors to display letter grades similar to the ones posted in restaurants throughout the city.”

Brannan also highlighted the City’s conflicting laws and regulations, something noted in Community Board 10 chairwoman Joanne Seminara’s report to the board. Continue reading for a statement from the lawyer of an area halal cart, and to learn about the black market for food cart permits…

Food Cart Opponents Resort To Illegal, Bullying Tactics

By on April 9, 2012  Business, Featured story
Apr 092012
 

Not the halal cart in question.

Community Board 10 Chairwoman Joanne Seminara has expressed the Board’s opposition to allowing food carts in Bay Ridge’s Business Improvement Districts, where brick-and-mortar business pay a tax surcharge in exchange for premium city services. She makes an eloquent, reasoned case for it when she speaks to media outlets such as Fox 5.

But individuals that have decided to take matters into their own hands – and outside of the law – threaten to tarnish the opposition’s message and give them a bullying image that will be hard to shed. Continue reading »