Downtown food cart dog fight By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO
Hot dog vendor Blazej Brozozowski was told -- with a mere 12 hours notice -- that his largely seasonal business would be shut down as of May 3, until further notice, for construction in the area.
A fixture at the southwest corner of Dundas and Yonge for 15 years, Brozozowski says he now has no idea how long his family business will be out of action.
"It's supposed to be suspension for one month... the city don't tell me how long," he said yesterday, noting naturally with tourists in town this is the time of year his family makes most of their money. "I don't know when I'll be back ... nobody knows."
In the meantime, the city's municipal licensing and standards officials won't give him an alternate location or allow him to sell on the weekends when the construction -- largely tree plantings -- is not being done, he added.
Nevertheless, MLS officials still took more than $6,000 from Brozozowski for a permit to operate his cart this year -- ironically suspending the permit 12 hours later due to the impending construction.
According to Marianne Moroney, executive director of the Street Food Vendors Association, Brozozowksi's patch of city sidewalk isn't even in the thick of the construction, er tree plantings, but he's been turfed anyway.
This latest tale is but one more example of the inefficiency, incompetence, indifference (towards those trying to make a honest living) and preferential treatment that marks City Hall's socialist agenda.
It seems Brozozowski is caught between two city departments -- transportation which never seems to get any construction jobs done on time (but does a good job of blocking city roads) and MLS that does a far more gleeful job of policing the Proletariat (for various so-called crimes against the state) than endeavouring to make life easier for those who pay for legitimate permits.
He -- plus 11 other vendors who were turfed from Bloor St. last summer for the reconstruction project that will never end -- also appear to be on the wrong side of a freeze imposed on street vendors by a group of downtown councillors who have made no secret of their disdain for such vendors.
"These aren't post boxes ... these are families that aren't supported by EI, are not supported by a union and this is happening now," says Moroney. "With all the hardship that our vendors have faced since 1999 with SARS, lack of tourism and people's attitudes towards hot dogs, we've had to deal with a lot.
"All of sudden with no notification these vendors are shut down," she added, noting it is incumbent on the city to give vendors 30 days notice, but that has not happened.
Coun. Howard Moscoe, chairman of the Licensing and Standards committee, said yesterday the freeze is "doing a lot of harm" to a lot of people -- mostly immigrants -- who want to make a living and that's "not fair.
"Downtown businesses don't like vendors competing with them," he said. "The councillor (Kyle Rae) doesn't happen to like vendors and he happens to listen to downtown businesses."
NO SURPRISE
Moscoe added the displaced downtown vendors have even been "blocked" from making their case at Toronto East York community council, whose members have passed the buck to MLS.
This should also come as no surprise, but Moroney notes city officials would move vendors in their highly regulated "Toronto a la Cart" program if construction were to occur on their turf but those vendors would not lose "one hour of time" selling their wares.
"There's a total double standard (at City Hall)," she said.
Moscoe may break out in a cold sweat -- as I more often than not criticize him as of late for attempting to police virtually everything but the air we breathe -- but this time he's right.
I applaud his efforts to advocate fairness for street vendors with a protocol that dictates those facing removal from their turf due to construction be given at least one month's notice. He is also suggesting every effort be given to finding vendors a temporary location as close as possible to their original spot.
The protocol will not be ready until October -- likely killing the season for those displaced -- but at least one member of Mayor David Miller's team is willing to stick his neck out in this situation.
And let's be frank -- that doesn't often happen these days at Silly Hall
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