Near the MacArthur Park Metro station, you may see a new market setting up shop on Thursdays. It’s not a farmers' market, but rather a first-of-its-kind pilot program that allows street vendors to sell their wares in a legal zone sanctioned by the city.
Unregulated street vending has been a hot-button topic around Los Angeles for years, but particularly in recent months as tensions around immigration policy have been running high. Many of the unlicensed street vendors who make their living selling goods are undocumented immigrants, particularly from Latin America. That means that a person who gets cited for illegal vending could find themselves running afoul of immigration authorities who would use the infraction as grounds for deportation. On top of immigration concerns, in some areas of the city, including the MacArthur Park, street vendors have been frequent targets for gang intimidation, extortion and theft.
The marketplace attempts to solve both problems by offering a safe space for the vendors under the watchful eye of city authorities, as LAist reports. Many vendors were already using the sidewalks outside the Metro stop as an informal market as it was, so the location was a natural fit to try out a more official arrangement.
At the MacArthur Park marketplace, 68 stalls will be available for vendors each week, at a $5 cost to the vendor. Spots will be assigned based on a lottery system, meaning shoppers should have a new collection of vendors to explore each week. If the one-year test program turns out to be a success, vendor advocates are hoping to see several more of these marketplaces showing up in other neighborhoods soon.
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