Advocates fear NYC migrants will be targeted through new sanitation department powers

New York City's sanitation department was granted sweeping new authority to crack down on street vendors — the vast majority of whom are immigrants — in the same election that gave a second presidential term to Donald Trump, who has threatened mass deportations of migrants.

New Yorkers approved expanding the department’s power through a ballot proposal that codifies Mayor Eric Adams’ mission to containerize trash into the city charter. But the measure also allows for another avenue for enforcement against street vendors, who already face $1,000 fines if they’re caught selling goods without a license.

Advocates fear city law enforcement agents will crack down on migrants while Trump aims to do the same with federal agencies. They're also criticizing Adams for increasing financial hardship and anxiety among street vendors by introducing an enforcement mechanism they say could be implemented unfairly.

Advocates argue it’s nearly impossible for vendors to legally sell their wares on the street because of the city’s strict limits on vending permits. And even if obtaining permits were easier, undocumented immigrants would still face challenges obtaining one due to their lack of legal residency.

“Vendors are being attacked for lacking permits, while at the same time, the city has not provided any opportunity for these entrepreneurs or small businesses that are the backbone of New York City's economy to acquire them," said Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, deputy director of the nonprofit Street Vendor Project. “When you look at the broader context of increased enforcement, of the militarization of our city streets against people selling fruit and vegetables, and the incoming Trump presidency, street vendors have been under attack.”

Kaufman-Gutierrez was previously critical of the proposal's wording on voters' ballots, which lacked any mention of vendor enforcement.

The measure's approval comes as a stretch of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens has become the focus of a dragnet law enforcement operation dubbed “Operation Restore Roosevelt” that the Adams administration says is meant to crack down on sex work, unlicensed vending and other quality-of-life concerns along the commercial thoroughfare.

Adams and NYPD officials defended the operation during a news conference on Wednesday, saying their enforcement blitz on the avenue — and in other areas popular among street vendors — would continue despite concerns it could ensnare more undocumented immigrants in the legal system under a second Trump presidency.

“When we say we'll crack down, it's like, we're not going in, we're not taking the vendor's property,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry told reporters. “We're going in, we're educating them, we're giving them leaflets, we're giving them pamphlets to let them know how to become a legal vendor here in New York City.”

Kaufman-Gutierrez alleged police officials were misleading in their remarks.

“I think that is a lie and street vendors are under attack,” she said. “There are agents of the law, be it from the sanitation department police to NYPD themselves, stationed on nearly every corner of Roosevelt Avenue morning, noon and night.”

The Street Vendor Project shared a series of videos it says were recorded on the avenue since the crackdown was announced on Oct. 15. The footage shows sanitation workers helping police haul off vendors' property.

Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch applauded the passage of the ballot initiative, saying "New Yorkers voted overwhelmingly for a clean city.”

“Proposition 2 enshrines waste containerization into the City Charter, making the fight against the black bags the law of the land, and it creates clear mayoral authority to end a bureaucratic quirk where some areas receive different cleanliness service and enforcement than others,” Tisch said in a statement.

The measure passed with about 1.38 million New Yorkers voting in favor and 854,716 against, according to unofficial results from the city Board of Elections. Staten Island was the only borough to reject the proposal, with roughly 6,000 more people saying no than yes.