Project Getting Street Vendors Back to Work Feeding Hungry New Yorkers Draws Media Coverage
25 NOVEMBER 2020

A “huge lifeline” is how one vendor described a program to put street food vendors to work feeding people in need of meals in a recent interview. That program, organized by the Street Vendor Project and supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), has drawn media attention in New York.

In an interview on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, project director Mohamed Attia mentioned that for many participant vendors, the project provided the only income they’ve received since the pandemic began. This was the second time the  Street Vendor Project’s recent meal distributions were featured on WNYC, the public radio station that reaches a larger audience than any other in the United States.

An article in The New Republic overviewing the state of the profession also mentions the meal distributions.

In an interview with radio station WFUV, SNF Program Officer Alex Simon-Fox highlighted the compelling two-way benefits of the program. “It was a chance to address the serious food insecurity you’re seeing in a lot of New York City neighborhoods while simultaneously addressing the employment issues that are facing street vendors,” he said.

The Street Vendor Project food distributions were highlighted in a Spanish-language feature from NY1 and the program was the subject of a “Hero of the Day” segment on WNYW (below).