For Sarai Rodriguez, the American dream hinges on an elusive piece of paper. 

She left Mexico 23 years ago to seek opportunities in the United States. Rodriguez now runs La Chona Mexican Food truck in Midtown on West 30th Street, yet remains stuck on a seemingly endless permit waiting list. For the last 10 years, she’s paid $20,000 every two years to rent someone else’s mobile food vending permit.

“It takes way too long to get it,” said Rodriguez. “I would have achieved my American dream if I had that permit.”

But the city’s complex application process isn’t the only challenge. A new report, “Street Vendors of New York,” published by the Immigration Research Initiative and assistant professor Jonathan Auerbach of George Mason University, reveals a significant gender disparity among female street vendors. With the city’s cap on licenses and heightened enforcement, female vendors in Midtown, which has the highest number of street vendors, face more barriers getting permits.

At a recent panel given by NEO Philanthropy, a public charity for grassroots organizations, Auerbach discussed his research. “The number of street vendors in New York is four times larger than suggested by the American Community Survey,” said Auerbach, referring to the annual report published by the U.S. Census Bureau. He estimates there are 23,000 vendors in the city of which 96% are immigrants. He noted there are 20,500 mobile food vendors and 2,400 who sell general merchandise.

“I was surprised that women make up 48% of the vendors, but the survey showed that they are less likely to have licenses or permits,” said Shamier Settle, a senior policy analyst at the Immigration Research Initiative. The report also showed that only 27% of female mobile food vendors have permits, followed by 14% for general merchandise vendors.

Debipriya Chatterjee, a senior economist at the The Community Service Society of New York, a social justice nonprofit that advocates for low-income New Yorkers, said the added responsibilities that women must juggle contribute to the disparity.  

“Many female street vendors would have to wake up really early in the morning, prepare the food, drop off kids, go to City Hall, wait for permits, spend an entire day giving up on the earnings. And they are not being compensated for that,” said Chatterjee.

Rodriguez, a single mother of four, starts her day at 4 a.m. “It’s super difficult to balance family and work,” she said. “I can do nothing for the permit thing.” 

The closed waiting lists and slow issuance rates further compound the problem. According to NYC Open Data, as of last August, the waitlist for general merchandise vendors stands at 11,926, and has been closed to new entries since 2006. For mobile food vendors, despite a 2021 law introducing new supervisory permits, only 127 of 890 new supervisory permits have been issued as of May, as reported by ABC News.

 Chatterjee said the permit process hasn’t adjusted to the changing demographics in the workforce. 

“Permits were mainly distributed decades ago when fewer women worked outside the home,” she said. “Despite more women entering street vending since then, the fixed number of permits hasn’t adjusted to this shift.” 

Mame Sall, a Senegalese immigrant, sells handbags and umbrellas on 7th Avenue. “I got the license many years ago, but now it’s almost impossible to get it.”

According to the NYPD Criminal Summons Reports, from 2022 to 2024, unlicensed vending-related criminal tickets soared, reaching a record level of 383 in the second quarter of this year. Last year, nearly 45% of vending-related criminal tickets were issued in Midtown precincts.

Female vendors encounter other challenges, such as a lack of restrooms and the threat of harassment.

“There is no public bathroom and it is really tough when you are selling things without partners,” said Sall.

Lisa Chen, who sells art products in Times Square, has faced abuse and intimidation. “People would just come and overturn the stall or refuse to pay. As a woman, I am usually not able to fight back.”

Hundreds of street vendors rallied at City Hall in August to push elected leaders for new bills that ease licensing. The proposed legislation includes improving vendor access to business licensing, reducing criminal liability, and creating street vendor assistance, among other reforms. 

“There’s so much enforcement, but where is the service and education?” said Guadalupe Sosa, a board member of the Street Vendor Project, an advocacy group that led the demonstration.

“Vendors striving to earn an honest living through hard work deserve our support and a fair chance, but the city’s regulatory framework is unjust,” said City Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, who supports street vendor reform bills, in a Facebook post.

As the uncertainty over street vending reform continues, Rodriguez continues to wait in limbo. But she hasn’t given up.

“I want to prove that women who are single, who don’t have any more support and who have kids could also do what I did,” Rodriguez said. “It’s difficult, but street vending makes me an empowered woman.”