Some street vendors banned from Center City this weekend
As part of Philadelphia's preparations for Pope Francis' arrival, some Center City street vendors are getting the heave-ho from their longtime locations this weekend.
As part of Philadelphia's preparations for Pope Francis' arrival, some Center City street vendors are getting the heave-ho from their longtime locations this weekend.
Employees from the Department of Licenses and Inspections distributed fliers over the weekend telling those vendors they can't operate as usual from Friday until Tuesday.
Only vendors who have contracts with the World Meeting of Families, the organization behind the massive event drawing the pope to Philadelphia, "will be permitted in the traffic box area," the flier said.
The so-called traffic box is a 4.7-square-mile security zone stretching from South Street to Girard Avenue and from the Delaware River to 38th Street.
City Councilman Mark Squilla, who represents the eastern half of the traffic box, on Tuesday said the vending restrictions were unfair and there should be "plenty of business to go around."
Squilla said he learned of the restrictions from vendors Saturday. "Obviously, if we knew a month before this, we may have been able to work something out," he said.
Squilla met with a group of aggrieved vendors Tuesday morning. Former State Sen. T. Milton Street Sr. organized that meeting as a consultant for the vendors.
The World Meeting official in charge of vending did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment, so it was unclear whether the vendors who were out of luck had any recourse.
"It seems like every time there's an opportunity for the vendors to show a sizable profit, [the city] kicks the small guy out and brings in the big guy," said Street, who once was a food vendor.
L&I's flier conflicts with information available since August on the city's Commerce Department website, which said vendors with valid licenses could operate inside the traffic box but could not drive vehicles in and out.
That advice said there would be no vending without a World Meeting contract inside the much-smaller "secure vehicle perimeter," which stretches from Independence Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Deputy L&I Commissioner Ralph DiPietro said there are 150 to 180 valid vending licenses in Center City. He said many are food carts, which cannot be left on sidewalks overnight and therefore could not have been driven in due to security provisions.
Vendors with valid Center City licenses are allowed to set up outside of the traffic box during the weekend as long as they are not parked in an area where vending is prohibited, he said.
The World Meeting and the firms it hired to handle vending have signed up some local food trucks to operate inside the traffic box during the weekend, he said.
215-854-5973 @ByChrisBrennan