More ‘Urban Backyard’ Events Ahead for LES
Why have nightlife when you can have DayLife? Those who enjoyed DayLife’s first event, which brought over 10,000 people to a closed-off Orchard Street in the Lower East Side for a day of pushcart vendors, live music and games, won’t want to miss their fall series.

On Sept. 23, DayLife will partake in “Imagining the Lowline,” a showcase on the solar technology for the proposed Lowline, an underground park. Then on Sept. 30, DayLife is back on Orchard Street, with Twister, badminton, DJs and a taste of the area’s local food and fashion.

DayLife events are sponsored and designed by the Lower East Side’s Business Improvement District.

NYPD Warns New Yorkers About Identity Thefts
The NYPD Community Affairs Bureau issued a written statement Sept. 12 urging citizens to be on the lookout for online scams that can result in identity theft. A common form of identity theft is executed via email, in a tactic known as “phishing.”

Phishing entails an email in which the sender poses as a legitimate institution, like a bank or insurance company, and requests log-in credentials. Often the email will have a link to a website that looks identical to the institution’s actual site, and the user then logs in, granting the criminals access to their username and password.

The best way to avoid this scam is to go to any official site directly, never through an emailed link. Also, the NYPD recommends having different passwords for each site. Sometimes a similar scam is carried out through a phone call using a fake caller ID, in which the caller poses as an employee asking for information. In such scenarios, decline to give any information before you have called the fraud department of the alleged business, and verified that they have contacted you.

In 2010 about 8.6 million families experienced some form of identity theft, a sharp increase from just five years ago.

Pedestrian Bridge Planned for West Street
On Sept. 13, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver announced the planned construction of a pedestrian bridge above West Street at West Thames Street. The bridge will make it safe and easy for Battery Park City residents to cross West Street, along with “students, faculty and parents of PS 276,” Silver said in a statement. He called the bridge, which will lead pedestrians to and from the Financial District, a “top priority.” The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation agreed to allocate $20 million to the bridge’s construction.

Delays Continue on MTA’s Broadway/Bleecker Street Project
The Broadway-Bleecker Street transfer is now taking longer to build than all of the first part of the IRT in the early 1900s. After rumors of openings in June, then July, then mid-August, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is remaining mum on a final date of completion for the Broadway-Bleecker Street Station.

The project, over budget at $135 million, will move Bleecker Street’s uptown 6 platform 300 feet south, as well as provide full ADA accessibility with five elevators and a new escalator. The MTA started designs in 2002 and construction in 2008.

Subway forums have been abuzz over when their commutes will finally be streamlined. The MTA installed, covered and uncovered signs since March and unveiled digital artwork in the station in July.

The delays are blamed on unforeseen construction difficulties like utilityinterferences and procurement issues.

Once completed, the new platform, designed by Weidlinger Associates and Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects, will offer access to Crosby, Houston and Mulberry streets.
2012 Vendy Awards Hits Governors Island with Proud Chefs and Drooling Mouths
About 1,500 food lovers swarmed Governors Island last Saturday to sample two dozen food trucks for the eighth annual Vendy Awards. The grand prize went to the Piaztlan Authentic Mexican food truck based in Red Hook, Brooklyn, which served beef, pork and goat tacos to excited attendees.

The People’s Taste Award went to Cinnamon Snail, a vegetarian organic truck serving such delicacies as smoked portobello mushroom carpaccio and raw jalapeño brownies. The owner, Adam Sobel, saw the publicly voted on award as a big victory for the vegetarian and organic food movement.

The “Most Heroic Vendor” honor went to Sammy Kassem, who cooks halal food in Bay Ridge and withstood persecution from neighboring restaurants in recent months. According to the New York Times, local restaurant owners organized to give Kassem the boot, claiming he was dirtying their streets and ruining business with his cart; his lawyer alleges Kassem faced discrimination because he is Middle Eastern.

The Vendy Awards are hosted annually by the Street Vendor Project, which provides legal and business services to vendors.

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Sammy Kassem is a hero in an unlikely place. The Bay Ridge street vendor is also the Vendy Awards’ first honoree of 2012.  According to a statement by the Urban Justice Center, a “non-profit organization that provides legal representation and advocacy to various marginalized groups of New Yorkers,” Kassem is being honored for “his perseverance and commitment to street vendors’ rights” in the face of opposition from anti-vendor businesses in his Bay Ridge community.

The “Most Heroic Vendor” award, of which Kassem is this year’s recipient, is regularly awarded to vendors who contribute to the City’s well-being, whether it’s by “spotting fires,” “spotting car bombers” or standing up for vendors’ rights. These vendors are often the eyes and ears of the streets.

In Kassem’s case, the 21-year-old Halal food vendor is being praised for standing up to those businesses which have tried everything to “push him out,” according to the statement. These businesses partook in some regular, old-fashioned bullying, including nailing park benches to his regular vending spot. In the face of their aggressive actions, Kassem has consistently asserted he has as much of a right to make a living there, rather than back down.

“Up against circumstances that would break most people, Sammy has triumphed,” said Sean Basinski, Director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center.

According to the Center’s release: “vendors make hundreds of small contributions each day that often go unrecognized.” The project aims to change that fact, one heroic vendor at a time.

A number of vendors receiving awards, including Kassem, will be presented on September 15 at Governor’s Island in the Vendy Awards Ceremony.

—Alissa Fleck

Not sure which street vendor to eat at? Head to Governor’s Island on September 15 for the 2012 Vendy Awards and you’ll never go hungry again! Ok, maybe.

Mimi & Coco's Teriyaki Balls - photo courtesy of Mimi & Coco's

The event, which travels throughout the country, sets out to determine which vendors you pass that are worth paying attention to.

Using a cook-off, it awards the winners of the Vendy Cup (the Lombardi Trophy for venders), the Rookie of the Year, Best Dessert, Heroic Vendor of the Year, and the People’s Taste Award.

Also, to give you an even better idea of what’s what, a new “Best Market Vendor” award will be determined. This new trophy “honors a new breed of mobile vendor popping up at local street fairs and outdoor markets.”

“Each, year the Vendy Awards shine a spotlight on New York City’s most talented sidewalk chefs,” said Director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, Sean Basinki, according to the event’s release.

“Only on this day do the best of the best – our concrete elite from across the city – unite for a fantastic food fight.”

Among this year’s judges are Food & Wine Mag’s Restaurant Editor Kate Krader, chef and owner of BaoHaus Eddie Huang, and, surprisingly, the NY-based rap group Das Racist.

The event has gained popularity of the past couple years, and saw 1,500 attendees last year.

Ticket prices are from $80-95, which seems relatively steep, but you’ve probably wasted that much on ill-advised, uneatable food purchases around the city.

–Nick Gallinelli

P.S. Vendors, applications are currently being accepted.

SOUVLAKI GR

Kostas, Pavlos, and Abby have been selling souvlaki from their truck, and now their own restaurant for only a year, but this is already their second Vendy Awards appearance! Their specialties include pork pita souvlaki with tyro kefteri (spicy feta and dill sauce) and Greek fries. They can be found Monday-Friday at Old Slip & Front Streets from 11:30 – 3:00. You can follow them on twitter @souvlakitruck, or check out their website www.souvlakigr.com

SAM’S FALAFEL

Owner Sam Ahmen has been selling falafel from his truck for 14 years! He experimented with his falafel recipe until he found one that he believes is unmatched. He makes everything from scratch from high quality ingredients. His falafel pitas are stuffed with everything you could ever want: hummus, caramelized onions, baba ghanoush, eggplant, and tomatoes. Sam is a bit old-school and has neither twitter nor a website, but you can count on finding him in Zucotti Park, on Cedar St and Broadway.