There are not one, but two street cart battles brewing on the Upper West Side. Street vendor vs. street vendor. One by one they arrive, and battle for a spot outside Anderson Cooper’s talk show at Columbus Circle. In fact , Anderson asked the street vendors about the battle for space during his talk show last week.
“What’s the conflict, what’s the feud” asked Cooper
“There is a competition, this is one of the best spots in the city,” said the vendor.
And while that battle plays out ? there’s a bigger one playing out. Street vendors vs. taxi drivers.
It’s clear the area around Columbus Circle is a taxi stand, signs are posted all over.
But the taxi drivers say the street carts block their view, and make it difficult to pick up and drop off passengers who have to maneuver through the carts.
Fernando Mateo who is the head of the Federation of Taxi Drivers says the street carts clog the sidewalks.
“It is very difficult to have to pull in between one of these food carts to drop people off,” says Mateo. “It’s inconvenient and it takes up a lot of space.”
That’s where Councilwoman Gale Brewer comes in. Brewer would like to propose new rules for food venders, that will move them off the crowded Columbus Circle sidwalks.
“Food vendors will not be allowed to be positioned at a taxi stand, that’s what the legislation calls for,” says Brewer.
Brewer says that general vendors who sell clothing and books aren’t allowed to sell at taxi stands, and neither should food vendors.
Joe Kurtz who works at the Waffles and Dinges cart says the legislation is not necessary, and that this is just life in the Big Apple.
” We leave enough space between each cart, at the end of the day we’re all just trying to make a living, says Kurtz.
For now, it’s a match that has no winner ? although Brewer says she expects the legislation to pass in a few months.
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