CAIR-NY & Street Vendor Project Condemns NYC Parks Enforcement Patrol Aggression Against Fruit Vendor, Family
(NEW YORK, NY, 6/4/2024) – The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY), a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and the Street Vendor Project today condemns the NYC Parks Enforcement Patrol aggression against a fruit vendor and her family, including their 14-year-old daughter. After public outcry, NYC Parks and Recreation is now investigating the conduct of the patrolman.
On Sunday, NYC Parks Enforcement Patrol reportedly shut down a fruit vendor selling grapes in Battery Park, handcuffing a woman and then attempting to also handcuff the seller’s daughter, just 14 years old. Videos show the child crying and pleading with the patrolman as eyewitnesses can be heard shouting “Let her go!” and “Get a female officer!” Despite the pleas, the patrolman repeatedly wrestled with the young girl until pedestrians physically intervened on the girl’s behalf, allowing her to be released from the patrolman’s grasp.
SEE: Video from X
SEE: NYC Parks Officer, Captured on Video, Leads to Investigation
In a statement, CAIR-NY Executive Director, Afaf Nasher, Esq. said:
"We are outraged by the city's hostile stance toward NYC’s smallest businesses. There is absolutely no sense of decency or shame left when a grown male patrolman allegedly uses force against a young girl to restrain her for the ‘crime’ of selling grapes.
“Street vendors are not criminals; they are hard working families simply trying to earn an honest living in a city that has become increasingly inequitable and unaffordable. Street vendors, who are primarily immigrants, people of color, and working families, are precisely the New Yorkers that our city's administration pretends to support.
“The reality is that our local government has been failing vendors for decades. The process to obtain a vendor permit is a nightmare – over 20,000 New Yorkers have been languishing on wait lists so absurdly long that they’ve been closed to new applicants. This latest incident is just another symptom of a deeply flawed and discriminatory system.”
Mohamed Attia, Managing Director, Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center said:
"We are appalled by the aggression towards a street vendor family and their young daughter, and our city’s increasingly harmful approach towards NYC’s smallest businesses. This unacceptable incident shows our city authorities feel at liberty to brutalize street vendors because they are immigrants, women, and people of color.
“The city must not criminalize street vendors for trying to provide for their families. The New York City Council must take action on Street Vendor Reform legislative package to comprehensively reform the vending system."
In a statement, the coalition emphasized the urgent need for reform to protect street vendors' rights and promote a fairer, more inclusive city economy. CAIR-NY is a member of the Street Vendor Justice Coalition.
CAIR-NY's mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR-NY es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT:
Afaf Nasher, Esq., Executive Director, anasher@cair.com, 917-669-4006;
Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, Deputy Director, Street Vendor Project, ckgutierrez@urbanjustice.org
Saira Amar, MPA, CAIR-NY, Communications Coordinator, SAmar@cair.com