They operate along fixed routes providing badly needed services in Brooklyn and Queens. But they compete with the city's decrepit bus service. The riding public wants the vans but the Taxi Cab and Limousine Commission, acting on the behalf of New York's Transit Authority and transit workers union, wants them out of business. Then there are African style hair braiders who operate out of their homes and small shops in predominantly black neighborhoods. Given the style's popularity, hair braiders can earn a good income.
Licensed cosmetologists fear loss of business and cosmetology schools fear the loss of students.
They both use government to stifle competition with hair braiders. Many of these fledgling entrepreneurs are black people who are trying to move up the economic ladder. The good news is that the state-sponsored siege against them is being broken. It's not black politicians and civil rights groups coming to the rescue. They tend to side with the establishment.