35-a. Veterans of the armed forces who vend in cities having a population of one million or more. Subject to the provisions of this section but notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of any general, special or local law:
1. (a) In cities having a population of one million or more, the official designated by a local law or ordinance to issue a local license to hawk, peddle, vend and sell goods, wares or merchandise or solicit trade upon the streets and highways within such city shall issue specialized vending licenses to honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the United States who are physically disabled as a result of injuries received while in the service of said armed forces and who are eligible to hold licenses granted pursuant to section thirty-two of this article. Such specialized vending licenses shall authorize holders thereof to hawk or peddle within such city in accordance with the provisions contained in this section. Specialized vending licenses issued under this section shall permit the holders thereof to vend on any block face, and no licensee authorized under this section shall be restricted in any way from vending in any area, except as provided in this section.
(b) The official in such city responsible for issuing specialized vending licenses shall set forth by rule procedures for issuing specialized vending licenses pursuant to this section; such rules shall establish a priority system, based upon the date of application for specialized vending licenses issued pursuant to this section, provided, however, that any disabled veteran vendor holding a specialized vending license issued in such city prior to March first, two thousand three, shall be accorded a priority based upon the date of issuance of such specialized vending license.
2. In areas where general vending is authorized, outside of the area specified in subdivision seven of this section, all specialized vending license holders, including those vendors authorized to vend in the area specified in subdivision seven of this section, shall be subject to those restrictions on the placement of vehicles, pushcarts and stands contained in any local law, ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation of a city having a population of one million or more, to the extent that such restrictions are not inconsistent with the provisions contained in subdivisions four, five, six and eight of this section.
3. Specialized vending licenses issued pursuant to this section shall authorize the holders thereof to vend on block faces, outside the area specified in subdivision seven of this section, on the days and at the times when other vending businesses have been prohibited on such block faces pursuant to any local law, ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation. Not more than two such specialized vending licensees shall be authorized pursuant to this subdivision per restricted block face, provided that no restriction shall apply to such licensees when vending on such block faces except as provided in paragraphs (e), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k) and (l) of subdivision seven of this section; and provided further no specialized vending licensee shall vend on any sidewalk unless such sidewalk has at least a ten-foot wide clear pedestrian path to be measured from the boundary of any private property to any obstructions in or on the sidewalk, or if there are no obstructions, to the curb. Where three or more specialized vending license holders attempt to vend simultaneously on the same block face, the two specialized vending license holders with the higher priority, as established pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section, shall have the exclusive right to vend on such block face, and any other specialized vending license holder vending on such block face shall be deemed to be vending without first having obtained a license.
4. Where exigent circumstances exist, a police officer of the city may order a specialized vending license holder to temporarily move from a location; for purposes of this subdivision, "exigent circumstances" shall mean an immediate threat to public safety caused by unusual and severe pedestrian congestion due to an impediment other than the specialized vending license holder, or by an accident, fire, parade, demonstration or other emergency situation. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit such city's authority to place restrictions on vending in order to protect national security.
5. Specialized vending licenses to vend shall be accompanied by a photographic color coded identification which shall include the priority number established pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section, and shall be displayed by such specialized vending license holder.
6. Specialized vending licenses to vend shall not be loaned, leased, subcontracted or otherwise transferred except:
(a) Upon the death of the disabled veteran who held the license, the license shall be transferred by operation of law to the surviving spouse or, if there is no surviving spouse or the surviving spouse elects not to use the license, to the guardian of a minor child or children who may use the license for the support of the minor child or children. The license shall revert to the licensing agency for reassignment upon the death of the surviving spouse, if the surviving spouse remarries, when the youngest minor child reaches age eighteen, or when either the surviving spouse or guardian of the minor child or children elects not to use the license to vend in the city of New York or abandons the use of the license. Temporary periods when the spouse or guardian do not vend shall not cause the license to revert to the licensing agency in the absence of other evidence of an intent to abandon the use of the license; a period of six months or more in which the holder of the license does not vend shall create a rebuttable presumption that the spouse or guardian has abandoned the use of the license; and
(b) If the veteran who holds the license becomes totally and permanently disabled, the holder of the license may transfer it to the holder's spouse or, if the veteran has no spouse, to an adult child if the child assumes the duty to support the veteran. The license shall revert to the licensing agency when: (1) the veteran who held the license immediately before the transfer dies; (2) the spouse dies or divorces the veteran who held the license immediately before the transfer; or (3) the child to whom the license is transferred dies or renounces the obligation to support the veteran who held the license immediately before the transfer.
7. In the borough of Manhattan in the city of New York in the area bounded on the east by Second avenue, on the south by Thirtieth street, on the west by Ninth avenue and Columbus avenue and on the north by Sixty-fifth street, the following additional provisions shall apply to the issuance of specialized vending licenses to disabled veteran vendors pursuant to this section:
(a) such specialized vending license holders shall be prohibited from vending on Second avenue, Third avenue, Lexington avenue, Park avenue, Vanderbilt avenue, Madison avenue, Fifth avenue, Sixth avenue, Seventh avenue, Broadway, Eighth avenue, Amsterdam avenue, Ninth avenue, Columbus avenue, Thirty-fourth street between Lexington avenue and Seventh avenue, Forty-second street between Lexington avenue and Eighth avenue, Forty-ninth street between Lexington avenue and Seventh avenue, Fiftieth street between Lexington Avenue and Seventh avenue and Fifty-seventh street between Lexington Avenue and Seventh avenue;
(b) there shall be a limit of one authorized specialized vending license holder per block face;
(c) there shall be a limit of one hundred five specialized vending license holders authorized to vend within the area at any one time to be allocated as follows: sixty upon the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand four which amended this paragraph, an additional fifteen commencing three months from the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand four which amended this paragraph, and an additional ten in each of the succeeding three years commencing on January thirty-first, two thousand five;
(d) the rule set forth pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section shall establish, pursuant to the priority system, procedures for issuing specialized vending licenses pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdivision; any dispute regarding the implementation of such procedure shall be subject to a prompt hearing before an administrative law judge with the New York state department of labor, provided that if such judge determines that a specialized vending license holder willfully violated such procedure, such specialized vending license holder shall be subject to a thirty day suspension of the specialized vending license to peddle in the area described in this subdivision; if any specialized vending license holder who has been determined to have willfully violated such procedure is determined, in a subsequent proceeding, to have willfully violated such procedure at any time following the initial violation, such specialized vending license holder shall be subject to a one-year suspension of the specialized vending license to peddle in the area described in this subdivision; if such specialized vending license holder is determined for a third time to have willfully violated such procedure, such specialized vending license holder shall be subject to permanent revocation of the specialized vending license to peddle in the area described in this subdivision;
(e) specialized vending licensees under this section shall:
(i) permit regular inspections by the official in such city responsible for issuing specialized vending licenses or any authorized city agency of any goods, vehicle, pushcart, or stand used in the operation of the vending business, or any premises used by him or her for the storage or preparation of goods intended to be vended in such business; and
(ii) provide the official in such city responsible for issuing specialized vending licenses or other authorized officer of the city on a semi-annual basis, or more often if required by local law, by-law or regulation in such city, the address and name of the owners or the manufacturers, suppliers or distributors from whom the specialized vending licensee receives his or her goods and also the address at which the specialized vending licensee stores his or her goods or any vehicle, pushcart or stand used in the operation of the vending business;
(f) no specialized vending licensee shall vend on any sidewalk unless such sidewalk is at least ten feet in width;
(g) no vending vehicle, pushcart, stand, goods, or any other item related to the operation of a vending business shall touch, lean against or be affixed permanently or temporarily to any building or structure including, but not limited to, lamp posts, parking meters, mail boxes, traffic signal stanchions, fire hydrants, tree boxes, benches, bus shelters, refuse baskets or traffic barriers;
(h) no vending pushcart, stand or goods shall be located against display windows of fixed location businesses, nor shall they be within twenty feet from an entranceway to any commercial building or store, measured as a radius extending from the center of the doorway, except where such doorways are within forty feet from each other, and in such case a vending pushcart, stand or goods shall be an equal distance from the center of the doorway of each such commercial business or store at the furthest possible distance on the sidewalk from the building line, and no vending pushcart, stand or goods shall be within sixty-five feet of the entranceway to any theater, movie house, indoor sports arena, or place of worship or school, measured as a radius extending from the center of such entranceway;
(i) no specialized vending licensee shall occupy more than eight linear feet of public space parallel to the curb in the operation of a vending business and, in addition, no specialized vending licensee operating any vending business on any sidewalk shall occupy more than three linear feet to be measured from the curb toward the property line;
(j) each specialized vending licensee who vends from a pushcart or stand in the roadway shall obey all traffic and parking laws, rules and regulations as now exist or as may be promulgated, but in no case shall a specialized vending licensee restrict the continued maintenance of a clear passageway for vehicles;
(k) no specialized vending licensee shall vend using the surface of the sidewalk, or a blanket or board placed immediately on the sidewalk or on top of a trash receptacle or cardboard boxes to display merchandise. No specialized vending licensee display may exceed five feet in height from ground level. The display may not be less than twenty-four inches above the sidewalk where the display surface is parallel to the sidewalk, and may not be less than twelve inches above the sidewalk where the display surface is vertical. Where a rack or other display structure is placed on top of or above a table or other base, the size of the base shall not be less than the size of the display structure placed thereon. Nothing shall be placed on the base so as to exceed the size limitations contained in this paragraph. No specialized vending licensee shall use any area other than that area immediately beneath the surface of the display space of the storage of items for sale; and
(l) no specialized vending licensee shall:
(i) vend within any bus stop or taxi stand or within ten feet of any driveway, any subway entrance or exit or any corner; provided, however, for the purpose of this subparagraph, ten feet from any corner shall be measured from a point where the property line on the nearest intersecting block face, when extended, meets the curb, except when noncompliance with the ten foot limitation of this paragraph is due to the placement of an obstruction. In such case the specialized vending licensee may vend within ten feet; provided, however, that such licensee must vend as far as possible from the nearest such driveway, subway entrance or exit, or corner, and in no event within five feet of such driveway, subway entrance or exit, or corner;
(ii) vend on the median strip of a divided roadway unless such strip is intended for use as a pedestrian mall or plaza;
(iii) vend over any ventilation grill, cellar door, manhole, transformer vault, or subway access grating;
(iv) sell or offer for sale any item directly from any parked or double-parked motor vehicle;
(v) use electricity or oil or gasoline powered equipment devices or machinery of any kind; provided, however, that such specialized vending license holder shall be authorized to use self-contained battery packs not exceeding sixteen volts in total solely to provide lighting for their vending business;
(vi) vend within thirty feet of an entrance to a park or within a park under the jurisdiction of the agency in such city that is responsible for such city's parks and recreational areas unless written authorization therefor has been obtained from such agency;
(vii) vend within twenty feet of a sidewalk cafe;
(viii) vend within five feet from bus shelters, news stands, public telephones, or disabled access ramps; and
(ix) vend within ten feet from entrances or exits to buildings which are exclusively residential at street level.
7-a. In the borough of Manhattan in the city of New York, the following additional provisions shall apply to the issuance of specialized vending licenses to disabled veteran vendors pursuant to this section:
(a) such specialized vending license holders shall additionally be prohibited from vending on Broadway between Murray Street and Battery Place and on Park Row between Ann Street and Spruce Street;
(b) such specialized vending license holders shall additionally be prohibited from vending in the area including and bounded on the east by the easterly side of Broadway, on the south by the southerly side of Liberty Street, on the west by the westerly side of West Street and on the north by the northerly side of Vesey Street.
8. Any dispute concerning the location of a vendor under subdivision three of this section shall be subject to a prompt hearing before an administrative law judge with the New York state department of labor, provided that if such judge determines that a specialized vending license holder willfully violated such procedure, such specialized vending license holder shall be subject to a thirty day suspension of the specialized vending license to peddle in the area and on the days and at the times described in subdivision three of this section; if any specialized vending license holder who has been determined to have willfully violated such procedure is determined, in a subsequent proceeding, to have willfully violated such procedure at any time following the initial violation, such specialized vending license holder shall be subject to a one-year suspension of the specialized vending license to peddle in the area and on the days and at the times described in subdivision three of this section; if such specialized vending license holder is determined for a third time to have willfully violated such procedure, such specialized vending license holder shall be subject to permanent revocation of the specialized vending license to peddle in the area and on the days and at the times described in subdivision three of this section; other disputes arising under this section, other than those disputes arising under paragraph (d) of subdivision seven of this section, shall be adjudicated in accordance with local laws, ordinances, by-laws or regulations concerning general vending.
9. There shall be established within the agency responsible for issuing specialized vending licenses in such city an advisory committee consisting of up to six disabled veteran vendors who shall consult with the official designated to issue specialized vending licenses under this section concerning the process by which specialized vending licenses are issued and the restrictions herein are enforced. The members of such committee shall be elected on or before August first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight by a majority of the disabled veteran vendors holding general vending licenses in such city as of August fifteenth, nineteen hundred ninety-eight. The election of such members shall be by an election which shall be conducted by the state department of labor; provided, however, that if the majority of such disabled veteran vendors holding general vendor licenses in such city as of June fifteenth, nineteen hundred ninety-eight fail to select the members of such committee on or before August second, nineteen hundred ninety-eight, the agency responsible for issuing specialized vending licenses in such city may still establish procedures for issuing specialized vending licenses pursuant to this section no later than October first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight. In the event a committee member resigns or is unable to fulfill his or her duties, such member will be replaced by someone from the ranks of the disabled veteran vendors by consensus of veterans on the existing committee.
10. The agency responsible for issuing specialized vending licenses shall publish educational materials describing the provisions of state and local laws, rules and regulations governing disabled veteran vending in the city of New York and enforcement thereof for distribution to the public and appropriate city enforcement agencies.
11. Where the city of New York authorizes general vending, through permit, auction, lottery or any other method subsequent to the effective date of this subdivision other than temporary general vendor licenses issued in connection with street fairs on any block face, street or avenue specified in paragraph (a) of subdivision seven or subdivision seven-a of this section, the prohibitions and restrictions in this section on vending by specialized vending licensees shall not apply on such block face, street or avenue and the number of specialized vending licensees authorized per block face, street or avenue shall, at a minimum, be equal to the greatest number of any single type of other vendor including but not limited to food, general, or vendors of written matter and others similarly situated on such block face, street or avenue.
Last modified: February 3, 2019