N.Y. GBS Law § 35-A — New York Code / Act GBS / Article 4 / Section 35-A
Veterans of the armed forces who vend in cities having a population of one million or more
Status: in_force

§ 35-a. Veterans of the armed forces who vend in cities having a\npopulation of one million or more.  Subject to the provisions of this\nsection but notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of any general,\nspecial or local law:\n  1.  (a) In cities having a population of one million or more, the\nofficial designated by a local law or ordinance to issue a local license\nto hawk, peddle, vend and sell goods, wares or merchandise or solicit\ntrade upon the streets and highways within such city shall issue\nspecialized vending licenses to members of the armed forces of the\nUnited States who (i) were honorably discharged from such service, or\n(ii) have a qualifying condition, as defined in section one of the\nveterans' services law, and received a discharge other than bad conduct\nor dishonorable from such service, or (iii) are a discharged LGBT\nveteran, as defined in section one of the veterans' services law, and\nreceived a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such\nservice, and who are physically disabled as a result of injuries\nreceived while in the service of said armed forces and who are eligible\nto hold licenses granted pursuant to section thirty-two of this article.\nSuch specialized vending licenses shall authorize holders thereof to\nhawk or peddle within such city in accordance with the provisions\ncontained in this section. Specialized vending licenses issued under\nthis section shall permit the holders thereof to vend on any block face,\nand no licensee authorized under this section shall be restricted in any\nway from vending in any area, except as provided in this section.\n  (b) The official in such city responsible for issuing specialized\nvending licenses shall set forth by rule procedures for issuing\nspecialized vending licenses pursuant to this section; such rules shall\nestablish a priority system, based upon the date of application for\nspecialized vending licenses issued pursuant to this section, provided,\nhowever, that any disabled veteran vendor holding a specialized vending\nlicense issued in such city prior to March first, two thousand three,\nshall be accorded a priority based upon the date of issuance of such\nspecialized vending license.\n  2. In areas where general vending is authorized, outside of the area\nspecified in subdivision seven of this section, all specialized vending\nlicense holders, including those vendors authorized to vend in the area\nspecified in subdivision seven of this section, shall be subject to\nthose restrictions on the placement of vehicles, pushcarts and stands\ncontained in any local law, ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation of a\ncity having a population of one million or more, to the extent that such\nrestrictions are not inconsistent with the provisions contained in\nsubdivisions four, five, six and eight of this section.\n  3. Specialized vending licenses issued pursuant to this section shall\nauthorize the holders thereof to vend on block faces, outside the area\nspecified in subdivision seven of this section, on the days and at the\ntimes when other vending businesses have been prohibited on such block\nfaces pursuant to any local law, ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation.\nNot more than two such specialized vending licensees shall be authorized\npursuant to this subdivision per restricted block face, provided that no\nrestriction shall apply to such licensees when vending on such block\nfaces except as provided in paragraphs (e), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k) and\n(l) of subdivision seven of this section; and provided further no\nspecialized vending licensee shall vend on any sidewalk unless such\nsidewalk has at least a ten-foot wide clear pedestrian path to be\nmeasured from the boundary of any private property to any obstructions\nin or on the sidewalk, or if there are no obstructions, to the curb.\nWhere three or more specialized vending license holders attempt to vend\nsimultaneously on the same block face, the two specialized vending\nlicense holders with the higher priority, as established pursuant to\nparagraph (b) of subdivision one of this section, shall have the\nexclusive right to vend on such block face, and any other specialized\nvending license holder vending on such block face shall be deemed to be\nvending without first having obtained a license.\n  4. Where exigent circumstances exist, a police officer of the city may\norder a specialized vending license holder to temporarily move from a\nlocation; for purposes of this subdivision, "exigent circumstances"\nshall mean an immediate threat to public safety caused by unusual and\nsevere pedestrian congestion due to an impediment other than the\nspecialized vending license holder, or by an accident, fire, parade,\ndemonstration or other emergency situation. Nothing herein shall be\nconstrued to limit such city's authority to place restrictions on\nvending in order to protect national security.\n  5. Specialized vending licenses to vend shall be accompanied by a\nphotographic color coded identification which shall include the priority\nnumber established pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this\nsection, and shall be displayed by such specialized vending license\nholder.\n  6. Specialized vending licenses to vend shall not be loaned, leased,\nsubcontracted or otherwise transferred except:\n  (a) Upon the death of the disabled veteran who held the license, the\nlicense shall be transferred by operation of law to the surviving spouse\nor, if there is no surviving spouse or the surviving spouse elects not\nto use the license, to the guardian of a minor child or children who may\nuse the license for the support of the minor child or children. The\nlicense shall revert to the licensing agency for reassignment upon the\ndeath of the surviving spouse, if the surviving spouse remarries, when\nthe youngest minor child reaches age eighteen, or when either the\nsurviving spouse or guardian of the minor child or children elects not\nto use the license to vend in the city of New York or abandons the use\nof the license. Temporary periods when the spouse or guardian do not\nvend shall not cause the license to revert to the licensing agency in\nthe absence of other evidence of an intent to abandon the use of the\nlicense; a period of six months or more in which the holder of the\nlicense does not vend shall create a rebuttable presumption that the\nspouse or guardian has abandoned the use of the license; and\n  (b) If the veteran who holds the license becomes totally and\npermanently disabled, the holder of the license may transfer it to the\nholder's spouse or, if the veteran has no spouse, to an adult child if\nthe child assumes the duty to support the veteran. The license shall\nrevert to the licensing agency when: (1) the veteran who held the\nlicense immediately before the transfer dies; (2) the spouse dies or\ndivorces the veteran who held the license immediately before the\ntransfer; or (3) the child to whom the license is transferred dies or\nrenounces the obligation to support the veteran who held the license\nimmediately before the transfer.\n  7. In the borough of Manhattan in the city of New York in the area\nbounded on the east by Second avenue, on the south by Thirtieth street,\non the west by Ninth avenue and Columbus avenue and on the north by\nSixty-fifth street, the following additional provisions shall apply to\nthe issuance of specialized vending licenses to disabled veteran vendors\npursuant to this section:\n  (a) such specialized vending license holders shall be prohibited from\nvending on Second avenue, Third avenue, Lexington avenue, Park avenue,\nVanderbilt avenue, Madison avenue, Fifth avenue, Sixth avenue, Seventh\navenue, Broadway, Eighth avenue, Amsterdam avenue, Ninth avenue,\nColumbus avenue, Thirty-fourth street between Lexington avenue and\nSeventh avenue, Forty-second street between Lexington avenue and Eighth\navenue, Forty-ninth street between Lexington avenue and Seventh avenue,\nFiftieth street between Lexington Avenue and Seventh avenue and\nFifty-seventh street between Lexington Avenue and Seventh avenue;\n  (b) there shall be a limit of one authorized specialized vending\nlicense holder per block face;\n  (c) there shall be a limit of one hundred five specialized vending\nlicense holders authorized to vend within the area at any one time to be\nallocated as follows: sixty upon the effective date of the chapter of\nthe laws of two thousand four which amended this paragraph, an\nadditional fifteen commencing three months from the effective date of\nthe chapter of the laws of two thousand four which amended this\nparagraph, and an additional ten in each of the succeeding three years\ncommencing on January thirty-first, two thousand five;\n  (d) the rule set forth pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of\nthis section shall establish, pursuant to the priority system,\nprocedures for issuing specialized vending licenses pursuant to\nparagraph (c) of this subdivision; any dispute regarding the\nimplementation of such procedure shall be subject to a prompt hearing\nbefore an administrative law judge with the New York state department of\nlabor, provided that if such judge determines that a specialized vending\nlicense holder willfully violated such procedure, such specialized\nvending license holder shall be subject to a thirty day suspension of\nthe specialized vending license to peddle in the area described in this\nsubdivision; if any specialized vending license holder who has been\ndetermined to have willfully violated such procedure is determined, in a\nsubsequent proceeding, to have willfully violated such procedure at any\ntime following the initial violation, such specialized vending license\nholder shall be subject to a one-year suspension of the specialized\nvending license to peddle in the area described in this subdivision; if\nsuch specialized vending license holder is determined for a third time\nto have willfully violated such procedure, such specialized vending\nlicense holder shall be subject to permanent revocation of the\nspecialized vending license to peddle in the area described in this\nsubdivision;\n  (e) specialized vending licensees under this section shall:\n  (i) permit regular inspections by the official in such city\nresponsible for issuing specialized vending licenses or any authorized\ncity agency of any goods, vehicle, pushcart, or stand used in the\noperation of the vending business, or any premises used by him or her\nfor the storage or preparation of goods intended to be vended in such\nbusiness; and\n  (ii) provide the official in such city responsible for issuing\nspecialized vending licenses or other authorized officer of the city on\na semi-annual basis, or more often if required by local law, by-law or\nregulation in such city, the address and name of the owners or the\nmanufacturers, suppliers or distributors from whom the specialized\nvending licensee receives his or her goods and also the address at which\nthe specialized vending licensee stores his or her goods or any vehicle,\npushcart or stand used in the operation of the vending business;\n  (f) no specialized vending licensee shall vend on any sidewalk unless\nsuch sidewalk is at least ten feet in width;\n  (g) no vending vehicle, pushcart, stand, goods, or any other item\nrelated to the operation of a vending business shall touch, lean against\nor be affixed permanently or temporarily to any building or structure\nincluding, but not limited to, lamp posts, parking meters, mail boxes,\ntraffic signal stanchions, fire hydrants, tree boxes, benches, bus\nshelters, refuse baskets or traffic barriers;\n  (h) no vending pushcart, stand or goods shall be located against\ndisplay windows of fixed location businesses, nor shall they be within\ntwenty feet from an entranceway to any commercial building or store,\nmeasured as a radius extending from the center of the doorway, except\nwhere such doorways are within forty feet from each other, and in such\ncase a vending pushcart, stand or goods shall be an equal distance from\nthe center of the doorway of each such commercial business or store at\nthe furthest possible distance on the sidewalk from the building line,\nand no vending pushcart, stand or goods shall be within sixty-five feet\nof the entranceway to any theater, movie house, indoor sports arena, or\nplace of worship or school, measured as a radius extending from the\ncenter of such entranceway;\n  (i) no specialized vending licensee shall occupy more than eight\nlinear feet of public space parallel to the curb in the operation of a\nvending business and, in addition, no specialized vending licensee\noperating any vending business on any sidewalk shall occupy more than\nthree linear feet to be measured from the curb toward the property line;\n  (j) each specialized vending licensee who vends from a pushcart or\nstand in the roadway shall obey all traffic and parking laws, rules and\nregulations as now exist or as may be promulgated, but in no case shall\na specialized vending licensee restrict the continued maintenance of a\nclear passageway for vehicles;\n  (k) no specialized vending licensee shall vend using the surface of\nthe sidewalk, or a blanket or board placed immediately on the sidewalk\nor on top of a trash receptacle or cardboard boxes to display\nmerchandise. No specialized vending licensee display may exceed five\nfeet in height from ground level. The display may not be less than\ntwenty-four inches above the sidewalk where the display surface is\nparallel to the sidewalk, and may not be less than twelve inches above\nthe sidewalk where the display surface is vertical. Where a rack or\nother display structure is placed on top of or above a table or other\nbase, the size of the base shall not be less than the size of the\ndisplay structure placed thereon. Nothing shall be placed on the base so\nas to exceed the size limitations contained in this paragraph. No\nspecialized vending licensee shall use any area other than that area\nimmediately beneath the surface of the display space of the storage of\nitems for sale; and\n  (l) no specialized vending licensee shall:\n  (i) vend within any bus stop or taxi stand or within ten feet of any\ndriveway, any subway entrance or exit or any corner; provided, however,\nfor the purpose of this subparagraph, ten feet from any corner shall be\nmeasured from a point where the property line on the nearest\nintersecting block face, when extended, meets the curb, except when\nnoncompliance with the ten foot limitation of this paragraph is due to\nthe placement of an obstruction. In such case the specialized vending\nlicensee may vend within ten feet; provided, however, that such licensee\nmust vend as far as possible from the nearest such driveway, subway\nentrance or exit, or corner, and in no event within five feet of such\ndriveway, subway entrance or exit, or corner;\n  (ii) vend on the median strip of a divided roadway unless such strip\nis intended for use as a pedestrian mall or plaza;\n  (iii) vend over any ventilation grill, cellar door, manhole,\ntransformer vault, or subway access grating;\n  (iv) sell or offer for sale any item directly from any parked or\ndouble-parked motor vehicle;\n  (v) use electricity or oil or gasoline powered equipment devices or\nmachinery of any kind; provided, however, that such specialized vending\nlicense holder shall be authorized to use self-contained battery packs\nnot exceeding sixteen volts in total solely to provide lighting for\ntheir vending business;\n  (vi) vend within thirty feet of an entrance to a park or within a park\nunder the jurisdiction of the agency in such city that is responsible\nfor such city's parks and recreational areas unless written\nauthorization therefor has been obtained from such agency;\n  (vii) vend within twenty feet of a sidewalk cafe;\n  (viii) vend within five feet from bus shelters, news stands, public\ntelephones, or disabled access ramps; and\n  (ix) vend within ten feet from entrances or exits to buildings which\nare exclusively residential at street level.\n  7-a. In the borough of Manhattan in the city of New York, the\nfollowing additional provisions shall apply to the issuance of\nspecialized vending licenses to disabled veteran vendors pursuant to\nthis section:\n  (a) such specialized vending license holders shall additionally be\nprohibited from vending on Broadway between Murray Street and Battery\nPlace and on Park Row between Ann Street and Spruce Street;\n  (b) such specialized vending license holders shall additionally be\nprohibited from vending in the area including and bounded on the east by\nthe easterly side of Broadway, on the south by the southerly side of\nLiberty Street, on the west by the westerly side of West Street and on\nthe north by the northerly side of Vesey Street.\n  8. Any dispute concerning the location of a vendor under subdivision\nthree of this section shall be subject to a prompt hearing before an\nadministrative law judge with the New York state department of labor,\nprovided that if such judge determines that a specialized vending\nlicense holder willfully violated such procedure, such specialized\nvending license holder shall be subject to a thirty day suspension of\nthe specialized vending license to peddle in the area and on the days\nand at the times described in subdivision three of this section; if any\nspecialized vending license holder who has been determined to have\nwillfully violated such procedure is determined, in a subsequent\nproceeding, to have willfully violated such procedure at any time\nfollowing the initial violation, such specialized vending license holder\nshall be subject to a one-year suspension of the specialized vending\nlicense to peddle in the area and on the days and at the times described\nin subdivision three of this section; if such specialized vending\nlicense holder is determined for a third time to have willfully violated\nsuch procedure, such specialized vending license holder shall be subject\nto permanent revocation of the specialized vending license to peddle in\nthe area and on  the days and at the times described in subdivision\nthree of this section; other disputes arising under this section, other\nthan those disputes arising under paragraph (d) of subdivision seven of\nthis section, shall be adjudicated in accordance with local laws,\nordinances, by-laws or regulations concerning general vending.\n  9. There shall be established within the agency responsible for\nissuing specialized vending licenses in such city an advisory committee\nconsisting of up to six disabled veteran vendors who shall consult with\nthe official designated to issue specialized vending licenses under this\nsection concerning the process by which specialized vending licenses are\nissued and the restrictions herein are enforced. The members of such\ncommittee shall be elected on or before August first, nineteen hundred\nninety-eight by a majority of the disabled veteran vendors holding\ngeneral vending licenses in such city as of August fifteenth, nineteen\nhundred ninety-eight. The election of such members shall be by an\nelection which shall be conducted by the state department of labor;\nprovided, however, that if the majority of such disabled veteran vendors\nholding general vendor licenses in such city as of June fifteenth,\nnineteen hundred ninety-eight fail to select the members of such\ncommittee on or before August second, nineteen hundred ninety-eight, the\nagency responsible for issuing specialized vending licenses in such city\nmay still establish procedures for issuing specialized vending licenses\npursuant to this section no later than October first, nineteen hundred\nninety-eight. In the event a committee member resigns or is unable to\nfulfill his or her duties, such member will be replaced by someone from\nthe ranks of the disabled veteran vendors by consensus of veterans on\nthe existing committee.\n  10. The agency responsible for issuing specialized vending licenses\nshall publish educational materials describing the provisions of state\nand local laws, rules and regulations governing disabled veteran vending\nin the city of New York and enforcement thereof for distribution to the\npublic and appropriate city enforcement agencies.\n  11. Where the city of New York authorizes general vending, through\npermit, auction, lottery or any other method subsequent to the effective\ndate of this subdivision other than temporary general vendor licenses\nissued in connection with street fairs on any block face, street or\navenue specified in paragraph (a) of subdivision seven or subdivision\nseven-a of this section, the prohibitions and restrictions in this\nsection on vending by specialized vending licensees shall not apply on\nsuch block face, street or avenue and the number of specialized vending\nlicensees authorized per block face, street or avenue shall, at a\nminimum, be equal to the greatest number of any single type of other\nvendor including but not limited to food, general, or vendors of written\nmatter and others similarly situated on such block face, street or\navenue.\n