About

A la Cart is a 30-minute documentary made as a Master’s Project for Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

In New York City there are more than 10,000 street vendors. It is estimated that more than 80 percent of them are immigrants. They work long hours under harsh conditions, counting on good weather to sell their goods and services on the public sidewalk. They are all struggling to make ends meet.

Since 1994, vendors have been the subjects of New York’s “quality of life” crackdown. According to the Street Vendor Project – an organization that works educating vendors about their legal rights – street vendors have been denied access to vending licenses, have been unjustly harassed, and their property has been illegally seized.

In February 2006, the city raised the maximum fine for non-health-related violations from $250 to $1,000.

Although a lot of them have their usual costumers and are well received by the people that are around them, some organizations and store owners want the police to be even stricter on the street vendors. Sidewalk obstruction, smoke from food carts and the garbage left by their customers are the main complaints.

Some of them, even with licenses, are frequently harassed by police officers, who claim they are disobeying some rule.

This story is about one day: the life of street vendors, from the time they leave home to get their cart to the time they come back home. We would be showing the problems they encounter, the people who are against them and the customers who buy food from street carts – or we could say “a la cart.”