Scores of merchants who used to sell inexpensive items to tourists atop the Brooklyn Bridge in New York were recently expelled due to a new rule that restricts vending on the famous span.
The prohibition is intended to reduce congestion on the bridge’s widely used pedestrian walkway, which has seen an increase in both visitors and tabletop companies selling things such as New York-branded caps and key chains.
As people rushed to the bridge over the holiday season, the situation turned unsafe, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. He has shown videos of pedestrians leaping from the pedestrian promenade to a bike lane several feet below in order to avoid a human traffic gridlock.
“It’s not only a sanitary issue, it’s a public safety issue,” he stated. “They would have trampled on each other. We need order in this city. That’s one of our important landmarks.”
Last Monday, police officers were stationed in pairs along the mile-long span, while a number of dissatisfied vendors gathered at the Manhattan bridge’s entry, glumly looking at their former bazaar.
City employees put “No vending allowed” signs along the bridge’s beams.
Kendall Otway, a 67-year-old vendor, said he started selling products on the bridge last year to help a rising population of asylum seekers from Ecuador and Senegal who had recently arrived in New York City.
“Wasn’t it the mayor who said they should come here and work?” Otway went on to say that the merchants had become “a staple of New York City now”.
The mayor, on the other hand, rejoiced at the vendors’ demise. The Democrat and veteran police captain stated during a press conference that the bridge is now “clean,” “clear,” and “the symbol of what I believe the city should look like.”
The new laws prohibit any “peddler, vendor, hawker, or huckster” from selling items or delivering a service on any of the city’s bridges or elevated walkways, even though none have quite as many vendors as the 140-year-old Brooklyn Bridge.
In recent months, the number of tables along the East River bridge selling phone covers and knock-off Yankees caps has increased. Other businesses had set up revolving selfie platforms where visitors could snap panoramic movies of the New York Harbour.
The tourists appreciated the merchants. “They always seemed to have business,” said Robert Fernandez, a Brooklyn resident who frequents the bridge. Nonetheless, he stated that without the “choke points” generated by the vendors, it was “much easier” to cross the bridge.
Some sellers stated that they intended to wait a few weeks for the uproar to subside before attempting to return. Others put up tables near City Hall, across the bridge, trying to dump their remaining merchandise away from the high-profile enforcement zone.
MD Rahman, who has been selling hot dogs and pretzels from a cart on the bridge for 15 years, claimed he had initially intended to defy the city’s laws. However, when he noticed officers spread out over the bridge, he chose not to take the chance.
Rahman stated that he understood the necessity to tighten down on illegal vendors. However, he questioned the prohibition as being unnecessarily wide because it includes seasoned dealers like himself who hold mobile vending licences.
“To punish everyone is insane. “I’m not sure what is going to happen to my family now,” he stated.
Despite the absence of sellers, a group of pedestrians recently became trapped in foot traffic beneath the bridge’s stone arches. The reason for the hold-up quickly became clear: a queue of tourists had gathered to photograph the ‘No vending’ signs.
