It was close to quitting time for George Hunter as he walked along Newark's Market Street, pointing toward people waiting for the bus at 6 p.m.

"Look at that,'' Hunter said.

Hardly anyone last week had bags in their hands.

"This is not normal,'' he said.

Hunter, a Newark street vendor on Market Street for 26 years, made some sales that day, but not what he'd like. He spoke as his assistant, Tawyn Silvers, prepared to pack up two wooden carts loaded with an assortment of seasonal merchandise - coats, football jerseys, winter outfits.

But Hunter, and other veteran vendors like him, hang in there, believing things will pick up as Newark's downtown landscape continues to evolve.

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What's not certain, however, is how these vendors fit into the city's future - if they have a future at all.This has been a lingering question as development sprouts up around them.

"We want to know what's going to happen with us,'' said Hunter, who is also president of the Newark Vendors Council, which represents about 60 to 70 licensed downtown sellers.

With increasing development during the past 10 years, you can see why vendors are concerned. The Prudential Center opened 2007. There are two new hotels. Prudential Insurance Co. built a new office tower. Starbucks has returned,there's a Nike outlet and the former Hahne & Co. department store building, now under renovation, will bring a Whole Foods supermarket, mixed income apartments and retail shops to the city, plus added space for Rutgers-Newark art students.

And that's just on Broad Street, Newark's major artery.

All the while, the plight of the city's vendors has been fluid. There have been proposals to require that they wear uniforms and sell from decorative carts.

There also have been suggestions for a designated vendor area that goes back to 1998, when the city council approved a special improvement district to revitalize the business district and get vendors off the sidewalks.

One of the locations that year was Nutria Alley, a space behind Market and Branford streets. But city officials said the area was too narrow and raised safety concerns when they initially thought it could be a possible site for vendors.

In 2001, city inspectors enforced a 1990 ordinance that required vendors to move 30 feet every 15 minutes if a sale had not been made. After that crackdown, another option surfaced on where the vendors should work.

That option was Treat Place, a narrow corridor intersecting with William Street. It was being considered when the the city installed decorative lampposts to create a vendor walkway. But vendors rejected that site, saying that spot was too isolated and customers would not find them.

In 2007, the city tried to limit the number of vendors to 15 within the downtown special improvement district, which stretches from University Avenue to Mulberry Street, and Raymond Boulevard to William Street. The ordinance would have required that vendors purchase $100,000 in insurance, and fees to obtain a peddler license would have increased from $250 to $1,000.

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Vendors railed against the measure, calling it punitive to their livelihood. They turned in 2,000 signatures on a petition and the number of spots for vendors was increased to 65. That effort, among many others from the city, was another potent reminder of their uncertain future.

"This has been going on since Sharpe (James),'' said Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins, referring to the former mayor's administration which stretched back to 1986. "There has to be a sense of frustration.''

Since the street vendors have not been clearly included in the city's downtown improvement plans, Chaneyfield Jenkins said enforcement has been lacking on who should be operating. As a result, she said illegal vendors have set up shop over the years, which has caused other problems. Two years ago, a Rahway man tried to blend in with local vendors when he showed up with a chair and a leather hand bag.

Authorities said plainclothes detectives from the Essex County Sheriff's Department saw the man take cash from a woman and hand her something from his pocket. He was arrested after detectives confiscated heroine, crack cocaine, oxycondone tablets, Xanax pills and a weapon from him.

Karriem Hunter, a longtime vendor and friend of George Hunter, said legitimate vendors take their work seriously and such incidents affect them as the city continues its efforts to clean up downtown.

A vendor for 24 years,Karriem Hunter owns five carts and has two stores on Market Street, one of which serves as a home for vendors who don't want to sell on the street. One vendor sells toys, another does tech support and a third sells hair care products. Karriem Hunter does printing on T-shirts and hats.

"Stop always looking to get rid of us and try to work with us,'' Karriem Hunter said. "Tell us what you want. We want to be a part of what makes the city looks good.''

Bring on the decorative carts and identify a place for them to sell that that works.

Frank Baraff, a spokesman for Mayor Ras Baraka, said the city is in the process of developing its strategy and that the street vendors will have a voice. He said a meeting will be held in a few weeks.

That's fine, but Henry Maddox, a vendor who sells house music on Market Street, hopes the city's agenda doesn't hamper the sellers ability to make money.

"We've stuck with the city,'' Maddox said. "Why can't we benefit from all of this glory that's coming through?''

The vendors just want to know where they stand in a career that is not for everyone. It's a tough business, but it's an honest way to earn a living.

"That's my baby, right there,'' George Hunter said, of his cart.

They've done a lot together, and if he has something to say about it, they don't plan on separating anytime soon.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger or nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL