The Vendy Nominees (a complete list)

French Vendor at MacDougal & Bleecker Pizza Vendor, 51st & Park
Coffee Vendor at W. 4th St. (E. of Wash Sq.)
Middle Eastern cart at Broadway & Liberty
Peter (hot dogs) at 96th & Central Park West
Gyro Vendors on Broadway and W. 4th
The Street
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Abdul (coffee & bagels) at 50th & 6th
Hong Kong cake vendor on Bowery & Grand
Rafique (halal) 48th & Madison
Vendor Project
Kebab Vendor on Broadway & 32nd St., Astoria Dominics (sausage heros) on Stone & Whitehall
Jimmy (coffee & bagels) at 51st & 6th Sammy’
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Fruit vendor at 28th & Park Avenue Chicken Vendor on Broadway near 30th
Smoothie Vendor at Nassau & Cedar Streets Kwik Meal II (falafel) 44th near 5th
Paki-Trini Boys at 43rd near 6th “
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Falafel Vendor at 30th & Broadway Sophia Laskaris (shish kabob) on Fulton & Water

The First
Adam (breakfast) at 68th & 3rd Coffee & Bagel Vendor at 32nd & 7th
Sam (korean-american food) at Stanton & Ludlow Faycal Khechai (chicken) at 69th & York
Mexican Food Vendor at Westchester & Ward, Bx John (middle eastern) at 56th & 7th
“
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son Middle Eastern Food Vendor at 5th Ave & 21st
Halal Food Vendor at 76th & Ninth
Tamale Vendor at 75th & Roosevelt, Queens
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reetnearJ
ohn
Tamales Oaxenquenos at 46th near 5th, Bklyn
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Super Taco, 96th & Broadway
Annual
Veronicas Kitchen (fried fish) on New Lots Ave, Bx The Mudtruck, Astor Place & Lafayette
Mustafa (fruit vendor) at Laguardia & Bleeker
Gyro Vendor at 68th & Lexington
Mei Fun Noodle Vendor, Elizabeth & Hester
Peanut Vendor on Bway near Waverly
Piedad Cano (arepas) at 79th & Roosevelt, Qns
Mexican Food Vendor, 50th near 6th
Vendy Awards
Kebab Vendor, Broadway & Steinway, Astoria Hot Dog Vendor, 33rd & Park
John (american food) at 65th & Madison Hot Dog Vendor, 57th & Broadway
Halal Food Vendor at 44th & 6th Halal Food Vendor, 36th & 8th
Fruit Vendor at 7th Ave & 12th Street Chinese Noodles Vendor, Catherine near Madison
November 10, 2005
“
theHotDogKi
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th Philly Cheese Steak Vendor, 46th & Park
at Noho United, 27 East 4th Street
The Gianettos at 47th & Vanderbilt Pakistani Chicken Vendor, 43rd & 6th
Hot Dog Vendor at 52nd & 8th
7:00 - 10:30 p.m.

The Vendy Awards are dedicated to every one of the 10,000 people who
work hard to sell things on the streets of New York City. Vendor power.
 Program
6-7 p.m. Press hour
7 p.m. Doors open
7–9 p.m. Eating; Judging; DJ Q spinning
9:00 p.m. Welcome -- by Michael Wells
9:10 p.m. Statement from Doug Lasdon
9:15 p.m. Award Presentation

10:30 p.m. The End

VIP Sponsors Rol

f“Ha
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Marc Falcone Goran Mandic 54th Street at Fifth Avenue

Sameer Kapoor James Vicente I came to New York from Germany in 1980. I had $500 in my pocket. I wanted to live with a mix of differ-
ent people, not just Germans, and I knew New York is a melting pot. I had been a machinist and a truck
driver in Berlin. When I got here I started working as a carpenter for $5 an hour.
the Judges One day at lunch I had an American hot dog, and I knew that New York deserved something better. So I
gots omeo fmymo ther
’sreci
pe s,a ppl
iedfo rav end orli
cens e,andwe ntt owo rko nthes t
ree t
.Atf i
rst
,
Adam Kuban Laren Spirer business was not very good. People were not used to my crusty bread. The first day I made 14 dollars. But
eventually I started to make more. You have to be determined and believe in what you are doing.
Todd Coleman Heather Tierney
In 1984, after a few years, I opened my first beirgarden restaurant. I have had a series of them over the
Nancy Ralph years with different partners. The current one, also called Hallo Berlin, is on 10th Avenue. Eventually I
would like to have a whole chain of fast food restaurants. They will be called HB Express.

the SVP Staff I met my wife at the pushcart in 1988. She is from Haiti and together we have two beautiful sons, ages 6
and 15. I hope that they will be able to continue the business one day. We live upstate in Binghamton,
where we also have a restaurant. During the week I stay with my brother Wolfgang in Harlem. He came
Sean Basinski Director over from Germany five years ago to help me with the pushcart. My other eight brothers and sisters, and
my mother, are all still back in Berlin.
Judi Mukarhinda Organizer
 About the Organization
The mission of the Street Vendor Project is to advance economic justice and civil rights for all the
people who sell their wares on the streets and sidewalks of New York City. This multi-ethnic group of
about 10,000 New Yorkers — mostly immigrants—enlivens our city by providing convenient food and
merchandise at reasonable prices. Vendors are a hallmark of our city. Yet, for many years, they have
been besieged by more powerful forces. The waiting list to get some licenses is more than 20 years
long. Huge swaths of the city have been closed to all vending. Every day, many vendors are arrested
and prosecuted for no crime other than trying to make an honest living.

Founded and run by former vendors, the Street Vendor Project is a membership-based project with
mor et han 400 ac ti
ve member s who ar e wor ki
ng t ogethert oc r eateav end ors’mov ementf or
permanent change. Finding vendors in the streets and the storage garages, we hold legal workshops
to educate vendors about how to combat police harassment. We publish reports and file lawsuits —
and hold events like the Vendy Awards — to raise public awareness about vendors and the
contribution they make to our city. We hold meetings to plan collective actions for vendors to assert
their voices in the system. Finally, we help vendors grow their businesses by facilitating access to
small business training and loans.

The Street Vendor Project is part of the Urban Justice Center, a non-profit organization that provides
T
ony“
TheDr
agon”Dr
agona
s legal representation and advocacy to various marginalized groups of New Yorkers. To learn more, or
to find out how to volunteer, please go to streetvendor.org.
62nd Street at Madison Avenue

When I was 10 years old, I immigrated to the U.S. from Greece with my mother, father and four broth-
ersa nds i
s t
e r
s.Fi rstwel ive di
nCh i
cago.I twash ar
dfo rmyd adtof indworkb eca usehed i
dn’tspeak the SVP Leadership Board
English very well. But he got a tip from a friend, and we all moved to New York City where he worked
as a vendor selling pretzels.

When I was 28, I joined my father and brother on the street selling hot dogs and shish kabobs. First we
we rea t50 t
ha n d5 th,a n dth ena fterabou tay e a
rIg
otmyo wns pot,o n62 nda ndMa d i
son.I’veb een
selling chicken there for the last nineteen years.

One of the reasons my chicken is so popular is that so many people now are health conscious. My
mother gave me the secret recipe for the marinade. And I love vending. The people I make food for are
my friends —I don't see them as customers. But it is hard being a vendor. Five or six days a week, in
the snow and in the winter, I am still out there. The heath department gives us tickets and the prices
a r
er i
d i
cul
o u
s .I
’dliketoo pe nu pah e alt
h yf astfoodre s
taurant,bu ti
ti
sv e r
yh ard.

My parents and three of my siblings have gone back to Greece. I go back every couple of years for a
visi
t.Bu tIreall
ylo veNe wYo rk.Yo u’v
eg o tevery
thingh ere—the ocean, the mountains, the four sea-
so ns.Il
iveinF lushingwi t
hmywi f
ea ndo urtwob oys, aged1 5a nd1 6 .Il
iketop layso ccer ,butI do n’t Top Row:Lut her Bol den,Khal ed Abouel khair,Mi chaelWel ls,Mut apha Ci sse,M’ baye
play so much any more. Mostly I work. We also go to the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on Moussa, Gaye Diba, Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Miah, James Williams. Bottom Row: Josue
Northern Boulevard. Echavarria, Sheldon Velasquez, Illiassou Alhassane (not on board), Zenab Bangoura, Sophia
Laskaris, A.J. Laskaris (not on board), Angelo Vega. Not pictured: Emad Ali & Janis Collado
Moha
mme
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leni
nfr
om“
theBe
stHa
lal
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Thi
ru“
Dos
aMa
n”Kuma
r
Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street
Washington Square South at Sullivan Street
I was born in Egypt, and I came to the U.S. in 1981. I was looking for freedom —the freedom to talk, the I immigrated to New York City from Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1995, with my wife and daughter, after I won a green
freedomt oe lectyou rpre sident.Wed i
d n ’
t ha
vetha t inEg ypt.I dec i
d e dtocometoNe wYo rkb e cau s eI card through the diversity lottery. I worked for a travel agency in Sri Lanka, so I knew a lot about the U.S.
was from Cairo and I knew I liked big cities.
First I worked in a gas station doing construction, then an iron factory on Long Island, then I got a job as a cook
I wa sav eterinari
anb ackh ome ,bu thereI di
d n’
tk nowa ny one.Ig otaj oba sab usb oya tar est
auran ti
n in a South Indian restaurant in Flushing. I worked there for almost five years. The restaurant business pays well
midtown. I knew I wanted to work for myself, so after a few months of that I applied for my food vendor but I wanted to be outside in the fresh air. I tried to get a permit to work on the street but there is a long waiting
license. I got a small pushcart and began selling hot dogs and pretzels on Fifth Avenue and 61st Street. list, so I went through the process of applying for a spot in the parks. I chose Washington Square Park because
After about ten years, me and two partners got a bigger shish-kabob cart. We set it up at 6th Avenue and it is near NYU which has a lot of international students who I knew would like my food.
53rd Street, where we have been ever since.
Some of these recipes are family recipes from my mother and my grandmother, and some are my own crea-
With all the hotels in the area, a lot of our customers were yellow cab drivers, and they began asking us tions. To keep the traditional flavor of my dosas, I use a stone grinder to make the lentil-rice batter. I really love
to make halal food, which is prepared in accordance with Muslim law. So we did — we were the first my customers, most of whom are NYU students. People love street food because they want to be able to have
halal pushcart in New York. Back then, halal meat was much more expensive than regular meat, but the me create it the way they want it, right in front of them.
cab drivers were most of our business. It started slow, but over time the business grew. Now we have
almost as many non-Muslim as Muslims customers. People love seeing the food made right in front of I became a citizen in 2000 and now my life is here. I live in Flushing with my wife and daughter, who is 14. The
them, and that is why they keep coming back. I love it that I get to deal with so many great people. I rest of my family is still back in Sri Lanka, and there are still some things I miss. I tried to go back for the first
have made many friends working on this pushcart. time this year, but then the tsunami happened and I donated my travel money to a charity helping the victims.
Ho pe f
u l
lyI cang ot h i
sy ear
, bu tIama ls
ot ryi
ngt os avemo n e ytobuyab igg ercart s ot hel i
n ewo n’
tb es olon g .
I became a U.S. citizen in 1996. I live in Astoria with my wife and four children. We have 3 boys and a
girl, ages 5, 10, 12, and 14. I like to watch soccer and walk around my neighborhood. My dream is to I love the water, and my best memories are of swimming in the ocean that surrounds Sri Lanka. I still love to
open a restaurant one day. swim, and now I go on Long Island at Jones Beach and Long Beach, which is almost as good.