Lower Manhattan Leaders Seek To Limit Number Of Sightseeing Ticket Vendors
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Tourists looking to take in the sights of New York City often buy tickets from street vendors.
But too often, those vendors leave customers feeling less than welcome. Local leaders are working on ways to change that.
Anyone seemingly appearing to be a tourist in Lower Manhattan cannot escape the art of the sell, CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reports.
Jessica Lappin, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, says the area is over-saturated with second and third party vendors selling legitimate tours of sites like the Statue of Liberty, but at jacked up prices.
Monday afternoon, the alliance counted 187 ticket sellers during a 30-minute headcount in Lower Manhattan.
"We're at a point where it's just too many. They're very aggressive," Lappin says.
CBS2 watched as one vendor leaned into a vehicle trying to make a sale. In February 2016, a vendor punched a tourist who refused to buy a ticket.
In an effort to police them, the city passed a law last summer requiring vendors to have a ticket selling license from the Department of Consumer Affairs.
On Tuesday, CBS2 found many following the law.
"If you prefer buying from someone licensed, then you'll buy from someone with a license," one vendor said, displaying his badge.
The NYPD has uniformed and plain-clothed officers policing the area.
But Lappin worries that with no cap on how many are licensed to sell, there could be turf wars, like there was in April when one vendor opened fire on a rival.
"They all want the good corners. There are only so many good corners," she says. "So if we limit the number of people who can be on each corner or each block, that would help control the problem."
Along with limiting the number of ticket vendors, the alliance says the city should also consider restricting vendors to painted zones, similar to the ones set for costumed characters in Times Square.
Lappin says more police enforcement is unrealistic, so perhaps cutting the number of vendors to watch is the most reasonable solution.
