New-York tribune., 1922-08-14
Push,cart PeddIers See Craft
In Fees Paid by Floaters

more than 400 IN the Rivington Street
domains Of Gottlieb If only 100 of
these had regular permits issued by
the commissioner it was obvious that
the other 900 had some sort of an
proval of Gottlieb himself While the
commissioner has full discretion in the
appointment of these supervisors it is
generally believed that most of the ap-
polntments are made upon the recon-
mendation of the local political leaders.
Could Use All for Expenses"
There is nothing on the statute books
that would prohibit the commissioners
using up every penny of the collections
tor Expenses, as the ordinance
adopted by the Board of Aldermen on
June u of this year placing the ped
dlers in the purview of the Markets
Commissioner merely says that after
the cost of supervision is paid out the
balance" is to go into the sinking
fund. Nothing is said as to how much
the commissioner may spend or how he
is to spend it.
So much for the more obvious phase
of the matter. There are many things
not written, however, which should not
be left without comment. Applicants.
like myself, are met with wondrous
tales of wealth to be made out of the
two foot space at the curb in Orchard
Street or Suffolk Street or Rivington
Street, and are told that one peddler
would not release his spot for $4,000
and that another purchased a S65 900
house in order to obtain the breathing
space in front of his home for q push
cart stand and that another became a
fhllilonalre selling penny articles out
OF n barrow
Poor Applicant Put OFF
Then when the poor unfortunate who
has merely been driven to the pushcart
as last resort asks for permission to
establish stand he is put off with all
KINDS OF excuses about "to- morrow ,
no space, with money one can get
anything" and so on He finally finds
the magic way and gets a spot some
place, but if he is just a peddler and
sells fruit and vegetables in the penny
wise method prevalent in the East Side
he certainly never becomes a million
airc. The measure of his fortune can
be gauged from the comment of Avrom
when | told him that l made 80 cents
the first day out selling bananas:
That's good living"
The Legislature recently placed the
supervisors within the civil service
ranks and the Municipal Civil Service
Commission has begun to prepare
| questions for competitive examinations
for supervisors and their assistants,
but it. may be months before these
Jobs actually will be placed on the civil
service lists it was explained that
the law, as passed, did not fix any SAL
airy for these men, and that Commits
) sioner O'Malley was trying to have the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment
create the positions, fix the salaries
and make the necessary appropriations
Commissioner O'Malley defended the
| present system and conditions in the
strongest possible terms. "The push
cart men like it," he said to me, "and
| they are with me. Pm sure they real
lzc they are getting square deal.
Why, | have delegations calling on me
telling me how pleased the hucksters
are
THAT 81 week is no hardship on
them. In previous years they had to
pay tidy sum to the owner Of the
their stand and in other ways they
were held up by gangsters. policemen
Of slight moral caliber and designing
politicians. That's thing of the past
l believe we have cut the inroads upon
the poor peddler's pocket to a mini
mum. There were frequent fake raids,
| fake collections for magistrates. May
ors, captains and things like that
That's all gone, too. The present may
| not be perfect, and abuses such as you
have pointed out may crop out, but
| until something more perfect than the
system we now have is suggested we
are going to continue it."