The Pushcart Wars

Business and civic leaders are steaming at the presence of pushcart vendors outside the brand new Jamaica Center mall, saying the peddlers create a traffic hazard and undermine plans to revitalize the Jamaica area.
Both Yvonne Reddick, manager of Community Board 13, and Joseph Mattone, Sr., the developer in charge of Jamaica Center, say the vendors who pay an annual licensing fee of $100 undermine joint attempts to bring large businesses to the mall, where rents run upwards of $30 per square foot.
"Weve invested a lot of money. People are paying $30, $40, $50 per square foot, and it jeopardizes the number of jobs at Jamaica Center. Plus, they create a safety hazard with the junk they leave around," said Mattone.
The vendors often line up beside the mall near the Jamaica Center subway stop, said Mattone, blocking the way for the nearly 37,000 people who use the station every weekday, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
"No pushcarts could be over there, period," said Reddick. "I want someone in enforcement to look at this."
Mattone said he approached Deputy Borough President Karen Koslowitz about the problem. Dan Andrews, a spokesman for the borough presidents office, said that Koslowitz had visited the site with the Mattones to inspect the area, and that she will hold a meeting with the concerned parties.
"Wed like to see what can be done to ameliorate the situation. Its an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed," Andrews said.
At the root of the problem is a lack of enforcement of laws concerning the placement of pushcarts.
The Department of Healths bylaws concerning pushcarts state that, "No vending pushcarts shall be located against display windows of fixed location businesses, nor shall they be within twenty feet of an entrance way to any building" (17-315 d) and, "No food vendor shall vend within any bus stop, within ten feet of any driveway, any subway entrance or exit, or any crosswalk at any intersection" (170315 e).
On a recent walk through Jamaica, pushcart vendors hawked from legal and illegal sites equally. Some respected the law and stood 20 feet from the entrance to Old Navy, while others clogged the narrow walkway on Parsons Boulevard where subway passengers emerge.
If Mattone gets his way, vendors will be banned from the area altogether, as they are on Manhattans posh Fifth Avenue. Pushcarts are banned from Fifth Avenue between 32nd and 59th Streets from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There are strict regulations against pushcarts on other Manhattan avenues, including Broadway, where pushcarts are banned from 32nd to 52nd Streets every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Mattone thinks the citys refusal to ban pushcarts in Jamaica is a sign of "boroughism" against Queens.
"It doesnt do justice to the community. They cured the same problem on Fifth Avenue. Why arent we entitled to the same right?" asked Mattone.
Reddick said she supports a similar law.
"If I had my way, there would be zero visibility. I go to Green Acres or Roosevelt Field because of problems like this. There should be a law against them," said Reddick.
Andrews acknowledged that the problem would be addressed.
"We just need to bring everybody in here and get everybody around one table," he said.