They are as much a part of the New York City landscape as the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and Times Square. But the presence of street vendors along New York City’s posh Fifth Avenue corridor gave Donald Trump heartburn in the early 1990s. Back then, he, along with other local business leaders, urged city and state officials to restrict vendor access to Fifth Avenue, including the space in front of Trump Tower. One target of his lobbying efforts included a special class of business operators: disabled veteran street vendors.



“While disabled veterans should be given every opportunity to earn a living, is it fair to do so to the detriment of the city as a whole or its tax paying citizens and businesses?” Trump wrote in a 1991 letter obtained by the New York Daily News. “Do we allow Fifth Ave., one of the world’s finest and most luxurious shopping districts, to be turned into an outdoor flea market, clogging and seriously downgrading the area?”



The fight went back to an 19th-century law that gave every veteran in New York the right to “hawk, peddle and vend any goods, wares or merchandise” throughout the state. Designed to create economic opportunities for Civil War veterans, the law has been amended a number of times at various state and city levels. Advocacy groups say what remains today is an overly complicated legal system that has, in fact, discouraged veterans from obtaining this protected license. Of New York City’s 2,555 general vendor licenses, only 105—and only those held by disabled veterans—permit work in the so-called "midtown core," a restricted zone created in the 1990s in part to respond to lobbying efforts of the Fifth Avenue Association. It’s a flawed process, veteran street vendors say. Not only is the number too low, but it has led to abuse of some disabled veterans through corruptive “rent-a-vet” schemes where civilian operators pay veterans to use their licenses in this prized area.



Politico photographer M. Scott Mahaskey walked the streets of New York City to document these vendors, who today battle cops, long hours and meager compensation—and many of whom still have fresh memories of Trump’s war against them.



Above, former Marine Dan Rossi, a disabled veteran and longtime New York City street vendor, cleans his food cart while setting up outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 17. Rossi, who has struggled to keep his carts on the streets due to tightening state and city rules, puts the blame on Trump and the Fifth Avenue Association for unfairly targeting vendors. Rossi says of Trump, “He’s done more damage to the disabled veterans in this city than any other man.”

M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO