Up until now the Brooklyn Bridge was more than just a place to stroll along while taking in stunning panoramic views of NYC–that is, at least, for tourists.
The Brooklyn Bridge seemingly doubled as a shopping mall with vendors illegally selling everything from food and NYC souvenirs to illegal cocktails and even selfies with a live snake. But as of Wednesday, January 3rd, these vendors are no more with new rules that prohibit vending on city bridges.
The Department of Transportation exclusively told The New York Post that while the rules pertain to all NYC bridges, it was specifically made to target the Brooklyn Bridge.
The new rules are intended to make it safer to walk along the bridge and “enjoy its beauty without being packed together like sardines,” Mayor Adams told the Post.
Vendors were given five days to pack up their good and relocate. However, many vendors are now worried about what this means for their livelihoods.
According to CBS New York reporter John Dias, one of the licensed vendors who has been selling items on the Brooklyn Bridge for more than a decade stated, “How else can I be feeling when you can’t pay the bills and you can sucked into everything going on, with Mayor Adams shutting the bridge down for vendors? Everyone here is an immigrant, vending, trying to make a living.”
Many New Yorkers, on the other hand, are relieved by the news, with one stating to CBS, “It was awful, it was junk and garbage all over the place.”
Native New Yorker Melucci Argito added, “This is some of the things that we New Yorkers love about our city, and it was being ruined, completely. So we don’t have to punish them completely, just give them someplace to go.”
Some vendors believe that, with the right rules and regulations, vendors and pedestrians can coexist on the bridge with more than enough room, though few of the vendors had their hands on a legal license to begin with.
Either way, the NYC DOT says vendors who remain on the bridges will have their tables and items removed.
“The Brooklyn Bridge has been called America’s Eiffel Tower, and it’s important that all New Yorkers and the millions of people who visit our city each year can enjoy it without impediments to safety and pedestrian mobility,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez according to The Post.