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Dawn S. Kissi

Class of 2005

A New Commodity in New York City’s Chinatown

Advisor: Lynda Richardson

Copyright:

Dawn S. Kissi

2005

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Dawn S. KissiClass of 2005Master’s ProjectAdvisor: Lynda Richardson

A New Commodity in New York City’s Chinatown

As Wendy Tsay sips her green tea and talks with customers in Cantonese, she keeps a watchful eye on thecorner of Grand Street in lower Manhattan’s Chinatown. Three New York City Police officers are positioned outsidethe Green Point Savings Bank across the street from the enclave she has constructed and for all she knows, moremay be on the way. Her eyes repeatedly dart between the officers and passers by, but she does not move. Her long,thin black hair is blowing in the January wind and her fingers are turning pink from the cold. She has cut off the tipsof her gloves. The cash and phone cards she handles nearly all day tend to slide in her hands when she keeps hergloves on. With her fingertips exposed, she has a better grip on the cash, the cards and more importantly, she candial her husband’s mobile phone easier should trouble arise.

It is only one week before the lunar New Year, Chinese New Year, as it is referred to in America. She isworking seven days a week now and later into the night. Her phone card business is picking up as the holidayapproaches and she has made an effort to work late into the night as people shop late and the holiday festivitiesbegin to take place in Chinatown. Through a translator, she explains that while her English is not very good, shelikes being outdoors. Meeting new people everyday, whether the local Chinese in Chinatown where she lives andworks, or any other customer, helps her speak better and understand the culture in New York City a bit better.

But with her desire to work, meet new people and better her language skills, also lies fear. After beingarrested in the summer of 2004 for selling phone cards (which she claims and offers proof of its legality), this fearhas been heightened since her second arrest late 2004. Upon being handcuffed in broad daylight and having nearlyhalf of her sellable merchandise taken away from her, she spent 26 hours in jail. After allegedly being denied aphone call while in jail, she was released from New York City’s 5th police precinct with a fine and a warning. Butwith no understandable reason as to why she had been arrested and demeaned in public. She was told only that itcould happen again. Recalling her night tin jail, Tsay struggled to explain through a Cantonese speaking translatorjust how in-human the experience was for her. “I was standing up almost the whole time,” Tsay said (of her night in jail). “When I go, they don’t tell me much.”

Tsay’s arrest has proven to be part of a larger problem inNew YorkCity’s Chinatown. Phone card vendorshave been targeted by police officers from the local police precinct, the 5th. Police records and carbon copies ofsummonses at the precinct show there is now at least one arrest every week of a phone card vendor. Tsay’s arrest is simply part of a campaign in Chinatown to sweep the streets clean of certain vendors.

Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown has long been known as a destination for cheaper, knockoff designer goods.Handbags, watches, compact discs and designer clothing have long been available (in many varieties) on thesidewalks lining Canal Street, Bowery and Broadway. Only in the past few years have phone cards grown to becomeanother cheap commodity within the community. With Chinatown’s expansion andas more and more newimmigrants settle into the area, the needs of these immigrants and locals alike have grown. Calling home hasbecome an almost daily ritual for many living and doing business in the area.

As with any neighborhood, expansion brings about new and diverse needs. Nevertheless, street vendorshave become an indispensable part of Chinatown and its economy. The city as a whole has grown familiar andexpectant of vendors on particular streets. Despite this and virtually no complaints from a number of questionedChinatown business owners and residents, there have been raids, seizures of sellable merchandise and property, andnumerous arrests of vendors in Chinatown. According to one business owner on Mott Street, and filed policerecords, phone card vendors in particular have been at the center of the raids. While New York City pushes aheadwith its quality of life initiative, both licensed and un-licensed vendors are experiencing a new kind of harassment-mainly by police officers and usually over what some academics and locals have referred to as “trivial” and even “racist” circumstances.

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Initiated during the tenure of New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, “quality of life” became a police enforcement issue. In attempts to clear sidewalks, curb street noise in certain neighborhoods, and in the formeradministration’s view, improve life in New York City, city residents were ticketed for what many considered minorviolations such as sitting on milk crates outside of a residential building. The administration went after what theysaw as “petty crimes.” For example, panhandlers on certain city streets, the infamous “squeegee men” that would run up to an idling vehicle and traffic and begin to wash the windows while the traffic light remained red and eventhose who would set up shop, almost impromptu, to sell merchandise on particular streets. Street peddling cameunder fire as well, as complaints of sidewalk congestion throughout the city rose.

But nowhere in the city are the crackdowns as rampant as they are in Chinatown. This, according to theNew York City Police Department’s Officeof the Deputy Commissioner and Public Information office (DCPI). Onesergeant, Kevin Farrell, recalls his time as an officer before being promoted and not being on the “beat” anymore. “Chinatown has always been busy,” Farrell said. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another. But that area is known as a hotbed. Sure, stuff is happening all over where the vendors are. Harlem, East Harlem and even in some Bronxmarkets. But lower Manhattan is busy.”

And it is in Chinatown that phone card vendors have set up shop in large numbers. From street corner tostore fronts to within stores, phone card vendors are easy to spot and are usually always willing to bargain. They sitsilently with a makeshift table in front of them or even cardboard stands to display their wares. Usually female,many have become skeptical of non-Chinese customers that may happen to stop by. It was an undercover,plainclothes, white police officer from the 5th Precinct that arrested Tsay. As a result, she and many others are nowhesitant to speak to certain individuals, be it a tourist or a non-Asian potential customer.

As it is, the majority of Chinatown’s phone vendors are selling their cards at 25 to sometimes even 40 percent off face value. A phone card values at 20 dollars sells easily at 14 or sometimes even 12 dollars. And withcards that offer rates to mainland China as low as 2 cents a minute, business has proven to be very lucrative formany of these women who sit silently on Chinatown’s streets. And with a select number of cards available indifferent Chinese dialects and some that are even capable of being programmed into mobile phones for faster andeasier calling, phone card vendors have found a niche in Chinatown-a very profitable and now somewhatcontroversial niche.

Discount and wholesale phone cards aside, there is something very unique about Chinatown’s phone cardvendors. While they are all Chinese with a handful of Taiwanese and even Vietnamese, the majority of vendors arefemale. With very little or poor English language skills, they quietly set up shop on street corners and move with thecrowds when necessary. But the entrepreneurial spirit of phone card vendors has been somewhat dimmed. Policeraids and arrests of the female phone card vendors have instilled a sense of fear and weariness in these women.Women, who claim that are legally documented to live and work in the United States and are “just trying to live.”Female vendors have been arrested, jailed and are harassed by police officers on patrol, primarily beat officers fromthe 5th precinct, now known among many as a local precinct that just does not seem able to handle the growth andexpansion of the Chinatown community.

The once self-contained Chinatown is similar to most other immigrant locales in New York City. With thecommunity’s growth, have come higher commercial rents, more pedestrian traffic and more storeowners trying toattract new business. Phone card vendors have set up shop in this community and business is booming. Highpedestrian traffic, word of mouth and a need for community members to keep in touch with those left behind in theirnative countries has propelled phone card vendors to one of the most profitable types of vendors in Chinatown. Withdemand only increasing, these vendors are now part of Chinatown’s image. An image it is carryingalong with itsexpansion into neighboring Little Italy.

Traditionally, the NYPD’s 5th Precinct, located at 19 Elizabeth Street, has been responsible for and haspatrolled the Little Italy and Chinatown areas of lower Manhattan. The so-called “face” of lower Manhattan has changed over a generation and while the neighborhood streets clearly reflect this, it is not easily seen within the 5th

Precinct. And as diverse as New York City may be, the majority of the NYPD officers are still white. As of January2005, only around 20 percent of the 5th Precinct’s 160 uniformed police officers are of Asian descent. And out of this 20 percent, a combination of Chinese, Vietnamese and Taiwanese, only about half speak any Asian languagesand are able to converse with Chinatown residents in a language other than English. White American males account

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for the larger number of officers on patrol citywide, let alone Chinatown. While recruitment efforts and communityoutreach programs have been able to draw a small number of officers of Asian descent to Chinatown, some haveargued that efforts are just for the sake of “quota fulfillment” and the real needs of the community are being ignored. And this alone has not been able to quell the tensions that have arisen in and around Chinatown as the businessesand residents move deeper into Little Italy, a traditionally white neighborhood that has generally had good ties withthe 5th Precinct. While a good number of business in Little Italy have re-located or shut down, Chinatown isexpanding, and rather quickly.

New York City zoning law has defined Chinatown as the areas bordering Kenmore and Delancey Streets tothe north, Allen Street on the east, and Broadway on the west. This Chinatown has also been billed as the largest“Chinatown in the Western hemisphere.” With a recorded population estimated between 80,000 to upwards of150,000 living and doing business in the area, it is needless to say this once concentrated community onManhattan’s Lower East Side is surging-outwards and into a traditionally white, established area known as LittleItaly. There are however, a handful of phone card vendors on the outskirts of Chinatown today, close to one whatneighborhood resident calls “the quieter part of town.”While not as visible as they are along Chrystie, Grand andBowery Streets, they are there and are no less cautious as those that are in the thick of it in Chinatown, along EastBroadway, for example. Little Italy residents have gotten used to Chinatown and the traffic that has engulfed thelower Manhattan area. But with familiarity has come complaints of different kinds. Congestion, pollution and pettycrimes are just a few of the complaints both the 5th Precinct and local politicians now deal with on a daily basis-primarily from Little Italy residents and business owners, with the main complaint being about those peddling theirgoods (phone cards, handbags and other trinkets) on the streets.

Despite the obvious economic influence street vendors have in Chinatown, New York City police officershave been trying to remove these vendors for some time now. The Manhattan South Task Force, a division of theNYPD has taken on vendors with the formation of a Street Peddlers Unit in 1996.While vendors throughout the citywere targeted, it is only with the 5th precinct that the Street Peddlers Unit has established a working relationship. Inefforts to quell complaints and clear sidewalks, detectives with the Unit are often on patrol with beat officers fromthe 5th. One station clerk laughed when questioned why. “One familiar face and one not,” she said. “I guess it makes it easier for them.”

Only within the past one and a half to two years has the intensity of raids and arrests picked up, primarilywith phone card vendors. Sean Basinski, director of the New York City based Street Vendor Project, cites a bit ofignorance and even boredom on behalf of the arresting officers in Chinatown’s 5th precinct. “It’s almost unbelievable that the police would just go after women that are just selling on the streets,” Basinski said. “There is other stuff going on, but it’s women that speak little English that are trying to survive, they are the ones that get harassed.” Basinski admits there are many “hard-working and honest” police officers within the 5th precinct, butnotes also that many of the precincts officers are now notorious among Chinatown’s business owners and vendors. He cites the precincts anti-vendor tactics as “harassment, abusive and humiliating.” for those living and working in the Chinatown area.

Founded as a program of the Urban Justice Center, the Street Vendor Project aims to improve the workingconditions of New York City’s nearly 10,000 vendors, including those like Wendy Tsay. Educating vendors on issues ranging from the legal to the trivial, the Street Vendor Project has become known as a determined and vocaladvocate for its members. Members that include Chinatown phone vendors to Bangladeshi hot dog cart operators.In a direct response to the harassment and continuing arrests of phone card vendors in Chinatown, the Street VendorProject initiated a campaign against the 5th precinct in 2003. While they have reached out to detectives and officerswithin the precinct and those involved with the sweeps and raids in Chinatown, they have met resistance on behalfof the police. It has even been reported that some officers walked out of a meeting initiated by Basinski in 2003regarding Chinatown vendors. The Street Vendor Project has also taken steps to ensure those that are harassed andarrested are fully aware of their rights and advocates fighting back against the injustice so many of New York City’s vendors are dealing with today. While Basinski also cites education on behalf of the vendors as crucial, knowinghow to exercise their rights is just as important. “We try our best to get them involved,” Basinski said. “It’s important the public knows that these are hard working individuals, and vending is their livelihood.”

Dr. Peter Kwong, an Urban Affairs professor at the City University of New York’s Hunter CollegeandGraduate School, has written and spoken extensively about the Chinese and their experiences in America. From

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exploitation to entrepreneurship, Kwong has researched issues of the Chinese on a professional level. Hisgroundbreaking book, entitled ‘Chinatown, NY: Labor and Politics 1930-1950” was recently updated to reflect the community’s change, both politically and economically. Kwong demonstrated how the exclusion and discrimination against Chinese in America led them to create on move down their own entrepreneurial path in many urban areas.Excluded from labor unions and forced into what he calls “urban ghettos,” the Chinese eventually rose to the merchant class status, particularly with the help of advocacy and liberal groups.

“This was to be expected,” Kwong explains of the rapid growth of Chinatown. “Once individuals are settled in, and in particular in a community as accommodating as Chinatown is today, it is only a matter of timebefore tensions pick up, especially as it moves outward.”

He attributes having to make a living and the ease, familiarity and comfort of vending as major reasonswhy these women now cautiously take to the streets to peddle phone cards. “This is what many of them did back home,” Kwong said. “Selling in markets and being outside is almost second nature for many of them.” They know how to do the job, no training required.” And pushing phone cards on a makeshift table is far easier and convenient that pushing a cart saddled with handbags, clothing and other various trinkets. New York City police officers are nothumanitarians and are typically under orders to carry out their job. Kwong attributes this to an “aggressive and even ignorant” stance of the arresting officers. “For the Chinese, it is very, very important to continuously be in touch with family. Many of them have left whole families behind, be it in mainland China or Taiwan,” said Kwong. “They must always be in touch, not just for personal reasons, but also to remind relatives of where they are and how, if onewants to, to come to America. It’s vital to them. And with such little diversity within the police department, and the 5th in particular, it is almost expected that there will be tensions. They simply do not understand what they aredealing with.”

Today, the issue of phone card vendors on the sidewalks of Chinatown is far from resolved. With tougherlicensing regulations and dated city laws that prohibit particular items from being sold on New York City streetswith or without a vending license, Basinski and his staff are working to ease restrictions. After carefully reviewingthe current laws, the Street Vendor Project has reached out to New York City councilman Alan Gerson and his staff,which includes Tammy To, an Asian American who is now Gerson’s Director of Constituent Affairs. To hasbecome the public face of Gerson’s office. She deals primarily with the public and fields complaints from residents on both sides of the issue. Both Gerson and To have recognized how outdated and somewhat unrealistic the vendinglaw in the city are today. According to legal filings, neither the vending or stoop line laws in New York City werehave been looked at by legislation or even amended was in 1937, with some more stringent restrictions added in1979. And knowing that street vending is a very common and easy strategy for both new and even some establishedimmigrants in the city, administrators have recently realized they must face and deal with the issue. Vendors servecommunities by offering low cost merchandise to its individuals. While some may seek out the bargains, there arealso those who never stray far from their locale and rely on particular vendors, be it for fruits and vegetables from aregular street stand, compact discs and DVD’s or phone cards.

Dealing with the Chinatown community and attending meetings in which both vendors and some 5th

precinct officers have been present, To is fully aware of both sides of the issue. She understands there are longtimeLittle Italy residents that essentially want to walk down their neighborhood streets without having to dodge apushcart or makeshift table on their way to their destination. And she understands the Chinese community hasrapidly grown and is bleeding into Little Italy. She also knows and understands how the Chinese community tends tostick together, “almost in large clumps,” as Kwong simply puts it. To spoke frankly when questioned about the higharrest and merchandise seizure rates within Chinatown. “I understand this community,”To said. “I know that this is only what a good number of them can do. And I know it is what they have to do just to be able to eat and get by. Butthe police are out there and they have to do their job, too. They are reacting to something; our office is stepping in tomake clear what should and should not be done, and what will continue on if there are no changes.” To goes on to explain that a mutual understanding between all involved is crucial, citing “more meetings if need be,” to bring the illegalities to the direct attention of Chinatown vendors.

Finding a balance for those living in the area and those working in the area has not been easy; especiallywith residents repeatedly bringing the issue to Gerson and his staff. Over the past year, To claims there has been alittle improvement in lower Manhattan with regards to vendors spilling over and onto the streets. She cites lesscongestion and cleaner, easier to navigate sidewalks, Broadway and Canal Streets in particular. But these changes

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took time. Vendors were forced to scale back while complaints mounted. One longtime Little Italy resident LillianTozzi, who was born and raised in the same building she still resides in today, explains the neighborhood as havinggone from “quaint and close-knit to so very commercial now.”

After a meeting held at Councilman Gerson’s office on January 28, 2005, a meeting in which To, Basinski, local Chinatown reporters and a number of phone card vendors were all present, Gerson has admitted that the law issomewhat restrictive and even dated. Flowers and jellybeans, for example, can be sold on sidewalks, but nowhere onrecord are phone cards included in the laundry list of items that are legally permitted to be sold on New York Citystreets. The arresting officers of the 5th Precinct are fully aware of this, but vendors, Chinatown vendors inparticular, have not been for some time. Also, pedestrian traffic and safety issues have arisen. There have beenreports of vendors that obstruct sidewalk traffic, with their carts or tables spilling too far into the sidewalks. This toois not clearly documented in city records, but many Chinatown street vendors have taken great pains to ensure theyare within the legal parameters of the vending laws. Gerson has assured Basinski and local vendors that his officewould look into ways that will ease the tensions that have arise between vendors and residents of lower Manhattan.Little Italy and Chinatown areas, specifically. The idea of having the law modified was also raised at the meeting,but Basinski is not holding his breath. A graduate of Georgetown University’sLaw School and one who isknowledgeable in public affairs and urban issues, Basinski knows it will take time, a lot of time before the licensingand vending issues reach City Hall with recommendations for modification.

Back at the 5th Precinct, officers continue on with enforcing the law, clearing out street vendors inparticular. 42 year-old Detective David Yat oversees the uniformed police officers that carry out raids and arrests ofvendors. “It’s gotten much more complicated,” Yat explained of the daily police activities involving vendors in Chinatown. “Sure, it looks awful when a little old lady is arrested on the street, but we have to do what needs to be done.”

Detective Yat speaks of complaints that have been phoned into New York City’s 311 service line. Established under current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 311 is a 24-hour operated city hotline that isbeing touted as the “go-to” for city residents. Created and implemented to curb the number of non-emergency callsthat were flooding the city’s 911 system, 311fields complaints, and concerns and even assists with tourisminformation. But exasperated lower Manhattan residents are also calling 311 when they find no one else to voicetheir concerns to. “Everything ends up here for us to deal with,” Yat said. On any given day, Yat explains that there are complaints from residents, Little Italy residents in particular, and the average pedestrian citing frustrations withhow crowded the streets in Chinatown are. Yat has served with the 5th precinct for 18 years. He acknowledgesChinatown has changed-and that many within the precinct that have served the area for some time probably neverexpected the neighborhood to be what it is today.

“We get complaints,” Yat said. “Complaints that the phone cards are cheap, that they don’t work and that they are a total rip-off sometimes. But we are mainly targeting those with illegal goods and those that are notproperly licensed.”

In an effort to ease some of the tensions that have arisen between police in lower Manhattan and residentsof both Little Italy and Chinatown, the 5th Precinct, in cooperation with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has initiated training sessions through the city’s Crime Prevention and Small Business services units. “People need to be properly licensed when they are out there,” Yat said. “If you are selling phone cards, your license should not be forflowers or vegetables. This is what these women are using to peddle and it is not legal.”

What has surprised Yat is how little interest has been shown on behalf of the vendors to cooperate and beeducated about the law. On December 24, 2004, when the last training session was held for vendors to learn aboutproper licensing and vending laws, Yat cites the turnout as “pathetic.” “Practically no one showed up,” Yat said. “The police were there, the District Attorney’s were there, but I could count the number of vendors on my one hand. I know time is money for them, but it’s important they know what is right and what is not.” At the same time, Yat goes on to explain that posting three to five thousand dollars bail in cash has not been a problem for many of thosevendors who have been arrested. “So they are obviously making decent money and don’t carehow they go aboutthings,” Yat continued. But this statement is quickly countered by what Dr. Kwong refers to as a “solid support base of vendors.”

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“Most know what is out there,” Kwong said. “Not many vendors are on the streets with no one to call. Theyare either working for a wholesaler or have a number of contacts readily available. Very few are operating asindividuals, so posting bail is and may often be a collaborative efforts.”

Detective Yat and Sergeant Eng, director of the Street Peddlers Unit in Chinatown, admit there have beeninstances where some vendors have been wrongfully arrested on the presumed charges. While the two won’t go into much detail, they both admit there is “always a reason” for picking up the vendors and ticketing. “Always,” Yatfirmly states. “We even get complaints that the vendors are attracting petty crimes such as pick-pocketing back tothe area,” he continued. “We have to look into everything that lands on our desks, especially if it is coming from the 311 hotline. Thatis basically the Mayor’s number as far as we are concerned.”

“We are not the problem”Douglas Ho, a former vendor and now owner of four calling card and mobilephone shops is one vendor turned storeowner who has felt the brunt of the law. “Everyone in the 5th knows me,” Ho said as he stood behind the small glass case displaying the latest phones and cards. Not only has Ho been arrestedand had public confrontations with officers from the 5th precinct, but his wife Stella has as well. “They have gotten to know me,” Ho said. “But for the wrong reasons. When my shops get robbed, I can’t get any help. But here I have a big summons and no idea really why.”

Malaysian-born Ho has experienced the profits of doing business in lower Manhattan and the over-bearingenforcement of the police from the 5th Precinct. His last arrest and summons cost him a $3,000.00 and landed hisphoto on the front page of a Chinatown daily newspaper-in handcuffs. Ho, who owns four phone card and mobilephone shops incorporated as Ring Ding Wireless in Chinatown, has dealt with the police enough times and has beenturned off from even wanting to ask for help when he needs it. “We are not the problem,” Ho explains as he opens for business one recent morning. “Instead of working against us, they should join us. There are bigger things goingon down here, I do not know why they come after all us who are just working and trying to live. If we all go by thebook, nothing would go right,” says Ho.

But it is also attitudes such as the one of Ho that Detective Yat and others within the 5th Precinct are tryingto change. “All the complaints aside, the laws are being broken. Plain and simple,” Yat said. “All the complaints and new incontinences aside, the law is being broken and this is why we are out there-not to just arrest for the hell of it.And a $3,000.00 fine clearly means he is a repeat offender. We would not issue a summons like that unless we knowand are certain the person has been through the system. At least more than twice.”

Ho is just one of a number of business owners and vendors in Chinatown that has either modified abusiness or scaled back on how and where they do business. Wendy Tsay, for example spent $1,000.00 to build asmall alcove outside of the Asian City store on Grand Street. After her first arrest, she was given permission fromthe store’s owner to construct the four-foot wide space, further back from the street curb, being sure to avoid thesidewalk altogether. Tsay cannot afford to work on her own and rents the small space from Jeff Li, owner andmanager of Asian City. After being released form jail the second time, Tsay asked to work just from the inside. Lessthan one week and she was back outside and in from of the store. “There is way more traffic out there, especially onGrand Street,” Li said. “She will go broke if she stays indoors with those cards.” Li explains the competition has grown tight and location has become the major issue for nearly all of the phone card vendors. 40-year old Tsay andher husband both immigrated to New York three years ago. They reside in Chinatown with their 11-year-olddaughter. Back home in China, they did similar work as vendors, but both admit the business in Manhattan has beengood for both of them. They know and understand the need for community members to call home; unfortunately theofficers of the 5th precinct do not.

It was in January of 2002 that the 5th police precinct publicly announced new tactics in dealing with streetvendors in Chinatown. On Canal Street, specifically, ticketing and/or “raids” would take place during the hours of 1 p.m. to 12 midnight on Saturday and Sunday. Knowing weekends are the busiest times for vendors and even themost lucrative, business-wise, the police went ahead with numerous arrests and the raids began. According to some,both legal and illegal vendors were targeted, but it was usually the illegal ones that were jailed and had merchandiseremoved from the streets.

One major concern of the police has fallen under the quality of life initiative. They cite complaints fromneighborhood residents and business owners. Sidewalks in Chinatown are usually crowded with pedestrians-

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weekends in particular. Since the Chinese are the majority of those who inhabit Chinatown, they have changed inregards to complying with various city laws and have taken extra caution to keep officers from the 5th precinct away.Douglas Ho, a former vendor and now owner of four calling card and mobile phone shops is one vendor turnedstoreowner who has felt the brunt of thelaw. “Everyone in the 5th knows me,” Ho said as he stood behind the small glass case displaying the latest phones and cards. Not only has Ho been arrested and had public confrontations withofficers from the 5th precinct, but his wife Stella has as well. “They have gotten to know me,” Ho said. “But for the wrong reasons. When my shops get robbed, I can’t get any help. But here I have a big summons and no idea really why.”

As of February 19, 2005 Councilman Alan Gerson and his staff had yet to hear back from City Hallregarding proposed changes in vending laws. Gerson, along with To as community liaison are now pushing to havethe law refined. While the concerns of vendors and those raised by Basinski are a factor, Gerson believes the lawshould be changed-with or without all the vendors spilling onto the sidewalks. He, like Basinski is also working tosimplify the vending laws and what the city regards as stoop-line licenses. These licenses carefully specify the exactnumber of feet and inches of sidewalk space that can be occupied while vending and by one vendor in particular.The content of what one can sell is also on Gerson’s agenda of things to be changed. His office has acknowledgedthat vending if not a leisurely task-it is a way of life, a livelihood for many in the lower Manhattan area and it mustbe protected just as the rights of an office worker or city employee would be protected. While the Street VendorProject has brought this issue to the attention of Gerson and his staff, the changes will clearly take time. Whilevending is not unique to Chinatown, phone cards and higher than average complaints are. High tension between theofficers of the 5th Precinct and the Chinatown community still exist and until there is a mutual understanding onbehalf of the vendors and those policing the area, problems will remain. The cultural and economic issues at playwill keep the issue alive, but for how long remains to be seen.

On another bitter cold weekend in March, Wendy Tsay is out on Grand Street peddling phone cards.Dressed in layers, she has a short line of customers in front of her and her husband stands by her side. Speaking inCantonese, she explains that she has asked him to work with her on some weekends as she feels less intimidatedwith him around. Yes, there are both uniformed and plainclothes officers around and on patrol. But Tsay and herhusband continue on. Vending is more than a daily tasks for the two of them. As Tsay puts it, it will give herdaughter what she wants for her birthday and help them support relatives back home. Be it 10 degrees or a hotsummer day, both husband and wife will continue to vend, and hold onto the their hopes of one day experiencing theAmerica they learned of back home.

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Dawn S. KissiClass of 2005Masters Project: A New Commodity in New York City’s ChinatownAdvisor: Lynda Richardson

Sources:

Mr. Sean Basinski, Director, Street Vendor ProjectThe Urban Justice Center(646) 602-5679-direct(212) 533-4035- fax666 Broadway, 10th FloorNew York, NY 10012

Dr. Peter KwongProfessor of Asian Studies Program, Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York(CUNY)(212) 772-5598-office

Amy Lung, Chinatown Justice ProjectCommittee Against Anti-Asian Violence191 East 3rd StreetNew York, NY 10009(212)-473-6485-main office number

New York City Councilman Alan Gerson & Tammy To, Director of Constituent Affairs for Chinatown, BatteryPark City, SoHo and TribecaDistrict Office:49-51 Chambers Street Suite 429New York, NY 10007(212) 788-7727-main office

NYPD Detective David Yat5th Precinct (Chinatown)Community Affairs19 Elizabeth StreetNew York, NY 10013(212) 334-0711

NYPD Sgt. Eng5th Precinct (Chinatown)Director, Street Peddlers Unit19 Elizabeth StreetNew York, NY 10017(212) 334-0711

Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund99 Hudson Street12th FloorNew York, NY 10013(212) 966-5932 (main)

In confidentiality: Chinatown vendors, one New York City police officer (5th Precinct) and an immigration lawyer.*Some names may have been changed to ensure the privacy and protection of vendors.

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Dawn S. KissiClass of 2005A New Commodity in New York City’s ChinatownAdvisor: Lynda Richardson

“P.S.”

In November of 2004, I lost a friend in the U.S.–led offensive in Falluja, Iraq. Sure, his death made headlines. “First Asian Marine killed in Iraq,” and “Chinatown mourns loss of Asian Marine.” Throughout my time spent with the family, I began to really understand how tight-knit and supportive this particular immigrant group is. New York Cityis brimming with nationalities, languages and culture. But what struck me the most about the Chinese was thealmost obligatory sense that took over when the news of Sgt. Lam’s death reached home. Business owners and strangers alike reached out to the family. Businesses in lower Manhattan’s Chinatown district in particular. Support came from all directions, in the spiritual and financial. While the family is somewhat known on the business scenedowntown, the response was overwhelming.

After spending a considerable amount of time with the family, I began to notice business trends in Chinatown. Butthere is also some negativity that has come with these trends. I noticed harassment of certain individuals, bullyingand threatening of those that appeared vulnerable and unable to quickly fight back. But with all this, a certainhumbleness also hung over the situation.

After witnessing an arrest of one street vendor on a Sunday afternoon in Chinatown, my interest grew. Why was thisone woman being arrested? Clearly not in anyone’s way, clearly not causing any direct harm to passers by, she was arrested and later fined. Granted, she was back on the street and in business in a matter of days, but the question stillremained.

My Master’s Project was born.

Street vending is weaved itself into New York City. It is the livelihood of tens of thousands of immigrants andnationals living in the area. With restrictive and even what many claim discriminatory laws, these vendors take tothe streets in order to feed families, pay college tuition and mortgages in some cases. Throughout my research andextensive interviewing, I learned of the struggles, fears and daily circumstances vendors live with. Many of whichwere either news to me or astonishing.

My Master’s Project focused on phone cards and the Chinatown community. As a new commodity in lower Manhattan, the issue of phone card vending is now making its way to City Hall. Licensing laws and vendingregulations are now at the forefront of the battle for equality and justice for those that have honed theirentrepreneurial spirits and depend on the “streets” to live. In a city with so many individuals “surviving” rather than “living” it was almost amazing to see how relentless and courageous so many street vendors really are.