The Adams administration must bring back Corona Plaza’s well-liked street vendor market before the Queens borough president would provide crucial permission for a $780 million soccer stadium at Willets Point.
Democratic Party leader Donovan Richards made the ultimatum public last week during remarks at the organization Street Vendor Project’s fundraiser at MoMA PS1 and then reiterated it to the media. The project must go through a thorough land-use review, which includes street maps.
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To raucous cheers, Richards continued, “What I said to the administration is: I will not sign off on any fútbol stadium until my vendors are returned to Corona Plaza,” he added, “And you can tweet that.”
He continued, “Those [street] maps will collect dust for the rest of the year because we will not turn our backs on the working people of our borough.”
Charles Lutvak, a spokesman for City Hall, stated in a statement that he anticipates the land-use review to start as scheduled “in the coming weeks” without any delays.
The ultimatum adds a new twist to a protracted debate over Corona Plaza, where the city earlier this year shut down a popular street vendor market in response to concerns about sanitation, crime, and overpopulation, including from owners of brick-and-mortar establishments. Many of the street sellers are immigrants operating their businesses illegally.
The New York City Football Club will call the 25,000-seat stadium its home when it makes its debut there in 2027.
After sanitation police removed hundreds of vendors from Corona Plaza in July in response to continuous complaints of obstructed walkways, unclean conditions, and “illegal vending” too near to businesses, city authorities have stated that they are still working out long-term plans for a market there.
Richards has been a vociferous supporter of the Willets Point project, especially the mixed-use complex that is also envisioned for the location.
Francisco Moya, a member of the city council who has backed both the stadium proposal and business owners who are in conflict with the street sellers, was unable to comment on Richards’ ultimatum right away. Additionally, the New York City Football Club opted not to comment.
Additionally, on the city-owned site, Related Companies and Sterling Equities intend to build a hotel, a school, ground-floor retail stores, and 2,500 affordable housing units.
To “improve quality of life” at the plaza, according to Lutvak, the administration has been trying to set up an “outdoor market concession on the plaza to better serve the space’s diverse uses and improve the experience for everyone living in, working in, or visiting the area.”
It was anticipated that the Department of Transportation, which built Corona Plaza, would issue a call for proposals for a third-party business or organization to run the plaza’s long-term market. Last month, agency spokesman Vincent Barone told the media that authorities were also looking into more immediate ways to get suppliers back.
Richards stated that he is currently haggling with the Adams administration about how many merchants would be permitted to return to the plaza, which originally had over 80 kiosks. Richards said that 28 merchants are his “magic number,” but he added that he is still resisting plans to ban sellers from the plaza indefinitely.
“I’m going to use every tool in my toolbox to ensure that they’re not left out of the conversation,” Richards noted.
He noted, “Hell, no. I’m not gonna put this stadium in drive while the vendors are in neutral.”
During their summer sweep, the Department of Sanitation police advised vendors without one of the city’s few and highly prized permits and licenses to depart. Only a few long-standing vendors are still there, and they are joined by a few newcomers who moved in after the purge.
Richards cited the Adams administration’s use of what he called “hypocritical” doublespeak, urging the Biden administration to issue more work permits to recently arrived immigrants while simultaneously refusing to award additional licenses to established merchants in the city.
For decades, there have been only a certain number of licenses and licenses required to lawfully sell goods in the city. The expansion of the supply has been plagued by protracted delays.
Many of the merchants, many of whom said they had been collaborating with the city to address neighborhood problems, said they were surprised by the Corona Plaza sweep.
Many sellers claimed that since being expelled from the plaza, it has been difficult for them to find other jobs and cover daily expenditures.
The Street Vendor Project’s deputy director, Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, stated that “people have now been out of work for over 75 days.” Two rent cycles, then.
