Albert and Regent Streets have been paved, benches, dirt boxes, and flower pots have been installed – and now as promised - the street side vendors will have to move. At a meeting yesterday the City Council laid down the law to the vendors: there will be no “if” “but” or “maybe” – as of tomorrow: no vendors will be allowed to sell fruits, food, jewelry – or anything from the street side. They will be relocated to the Battlefield Park where the vendors have been complaining the space is too small. But none of that matters now because the city council told vendors that if they don’t move voluntarily – the police will be called to move them.
Cordelia Vernon, Fruit Vendor
“We have to move, it is not that we want. The guy said we have to move and if we don’t the man in black and the man in green and brown will move us, escort we rather.”
Martha McGregor, Fruit Vendor
“The City Council says we have to move from here, we have to move it. I didn’t want to move but we have to do it.”
Keith Swift,
How will this affect your business?
Martha McGregor,
“Well it will affect me because it won’t be like here because people are already used to coming this side.”
Cordelia Vernon,
“Well sweetie I’ve been across there since seven months since the fire and business ain’t there but they say maybe it will have business eventually because everybody will be on that side. We can’t count on that and so we don’t know that.”
Keith Swift,
But why don’t you want to move, people will say it looks nice, they cleaned the park, they cut the trees, they painted the booths and it looks attractive. Why don’t you want to move?
Cordelia Vernon,
“It looks attractive Keith but everything is done yet. We don’t have any flooring inside there. I tell them I see centipede running up and down the sand there. All I ask them yesterday to put something on the ground at least to stand on. It is not safe Keith.”
Keith Swift,
Do you want to move?
Emma Hoare, Food Vendor
“Well we have to move.”
Keith Swift,
You sell ducunu, boil corn, and tamales – you think you will make the same money over there?
Emma Hoare,
“No I think I will have to make less because the amount I sell over there won’t be the same.”
Martha McGregor,
“I feel good still yet because I think that is the best thing, only because the space is too small but we still have to accept it.”
Cordelia Vernon,
“I guess I will be going, I will be moving tomorrow morning on the other side of Battlefield Park but it is no longer Battlefield Park anymore.”
Keith Swift,
It is what to you?
Cordelia Vernon,
“Circus in the middle of town.”
There reportedly aren’t enough booths in Battlefield Park to accommodate all the vendors. Some we spoke to are hoping that by Monday something will be worked out. A few of the vendors were reluctant to speak to us since they say that because they spoke out previously, they were denied booths and told not to speak to the media.
