Banned Brooklyn Bridge vendors relocate to DUMBO

They're crowding sidewalks and upsetting residents

January 9, 2024 Mary Frost

Dozens of vendors recently banned from the Brooklyn Bridge have set up shop on the Washington Street sidewalk next to Anchorage Plaza, concerning DUMBO residents. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

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DUMBO — Dozens of souvenir vendors who were evicted from the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway on Jan. 3 have relocated to Washington Street in DUMBO, hoping to catch the crowds of tourists headed from the bridge to the waterfront neighborhood.

While a few vendors had previously staked out spots in the strip running alongside Anchorage Plaza, since the ban took effect the entire block has turned into a 24/7 gauntlet of T-shirts, keychains, phony license plates and miniature Statues of Liberty. The crowded sidewalks, gas generators and overnight encampments are upsetting some DUMBO residents.

An all-night vendor encampment under the Brooklyn Bridge overpass in DUMBO. Photo courtesy DAC

“All the vendors are licensed, but the way they are using the sidewalk is not legal,” Jimmy Ng, a member of the steering committee of the DUMBO Action Committee, told the Brooklyn Eagle. While city regulations allow one 8’x3’ table, for example, some vendors have tables measuring 12’x5’ feet, obstructing the sidewalk, he said. “It’s a matter of public safety. People are not able to walk on the sidewalk, and they resort to walking out into the street.”

The DUMBO Improvement District has also expressed concern about the influx of vendors.

“Vendors need to follow the laws, just like any other business. That’s not happening. It’s been a few days,” said Alexandria Sica, president of the DUMBO Improvement District. “We hope the enforcement the city is providing will resolve a lot of this quickly.”

Ng said he was encouraged by a group call that Councilmember Lincoln Restler’s office arranged with the NYC Department of Sanitation’s Street Vending Enforcement unit and the Mayor’s Office.

“The meeting was pretty encouraging. DSNY said they would be sending out an enforcement team on Friday at different times to take a look at it and take enforcement action if appropriate. And over the next two weeks, they would be stepping up enforcement, focusing on DUMBO,” he said.

Residents told Ng they did see some enforcement recently. “But for me, the concern is what happens after these two weeks? Like with most problems in the city, these are kind of whack-a-mole problems. What is the long-term view that DSNY is going to take here?”

Soon after being banned from the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway, dozens of vendors moved to Washington Street in DUMBO, jamming the sidewalk and raising complaints from locals. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Restler: This was all predictable

“While we very much appreciate the efforts to clear the Brooklyn Bridge walkway for the safety of all, the relocation of vendors to Washington Street was a predictable outcome,” Restler told the Eagle. “I had requested the Adams administration to proactively address this, but unfortunately we have experienced a more than 10-fold increase of vending on Washington Street this past week and it is challenging for neighbors to pass by.”

Restler added that his team had convened the meeting with representatives from the Mayor’s Office and Department of Sanitation and other agencies in order to “increase daily enforcement and improve interagency coordination.” His office is gathering information from the DUMBO BID and DAC, “To share with city agencies to try to get this under control,” he said.

Police patrol the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway to enforce the ban of vendors, which went into effect Jan. 3, 2024. Many of the vendors have since moved to Washington Street in DUMBO. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

DSNY spokesperson Vincent Gragnani told the Eagle on Tuesday that the agency is monitoring the Washington Street area.

“At this time we are monitoring the conditions, in line with our focus on enforcement around cleanliness and quality of life,” he said, adding, “DSNY takes a warnings-first approach whenever possible, and enforcement when necessary.”

The DUMBO Action Committee supplied this photo of a generator and can of gas, used by a Washington Street vendor to keep their display running all night. Photo courtesy DAC

DAC wants ‘some clarity’

Ng said DAC still wants clarity about some basic issues.

“Generators running all night, gas canisters, cables coming out that look unsafe, delivery vans. We have reports of people sleeping there overnight. There’s got to be something that’s not OK with that. These are all quality of life issues. We’re trying to get answers to these basic questions so we know what is OK for us to push on and what we have to live with,” Ng said.

“This isn’t about being anti-immigrant, or anti-vendor” he added. “Vending is legal. It’s a balance between all the different stake holders that love the city, business owners, residence, tourists, etc. Right now the balance doesn’t exist, and we are really looking for that.”

Washington Street Yard, part of Anchorage Plaza. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

Development of Anchorage Plaza may help

A plan to bring a new concession to Anchorage Plaza may help alleviate the vendor situation, said Bill Stein, a board member of the Fulton Ferry Landing Association.

The RFP for Anchorage Plaza, which was issued by the Parks Department this week, states that the concessionaire has the option to operate up to three mobile food units, he told the Eagle. This could include plans to vend on the east side of the plaza up to and including the Washington Street sidewalk.

The DUMBO Action Committee has pointed out numerous concerns regarding the influx of vendors to Washington street, including (left) a vendor squatting on the sidewalk in a tent; (right) commercial supply trucks; (bottom) illegal placement of carts. Photo and graphics courtesy DAC

“So Parks intends to allow three food carts to operate on the very sidewalk that is currently blocked by the schlock vendors. This could be a good thing, assuming that there would be proper enforcement of regulations,” he said.

Stein added, “It would also seem that the designated concessionaire would have an interest in keeping the illegal vendors away, possibly including the ones adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge staircase. This would all be to the benefit of the residents of the community.”