While the Brooklyn Bridge was still flush with leftover holiday tourists this Wednesday, the walking path felt relatively sparse as the city’s new ban on vendors went into effect. Gone were the trinket stands, the hat sellers, and the hot-dog carts that have lined the 6,000-foot-long span, some of which have been stationed there for decades and others only since the protected bike lane was installed in 2021. The vendor ban, which was announced by Mayor Eric Adams last Friday, comes amid a wave of crackdowns on street vendors across the city and is intended to address the congestion on the bridge’s pedestrian pathways, which sometimes brings foot traffic to a complete standstill, especially in the narrow entryways.
The enforcement around noon on the first day of the ban was limited to paper signs in English, Mandarin, and Spanish posted throughout. A cluster of police were stationed at the bridge’s arches near the only permanent metal sign acknowledging the ban, with a few others patrolling the walkway — not any more than usual (though one officer did follow me off the bridge after he noticed I was filming the signage.)
The path itself was completely free of any remnants of the vendors that had lined most of the bridge just a day ago. Tourists enjoying the sunny day were mostly oblivious about the change or seemed to welcome it. Carolina, a return visitor from Finland, appreciated the extra room. Stella and Rosa, visitors from the Netherlands who had never been on the bridge before, found it easy to get around. Rosa told me she was relieved there were no hot dogs for sale. “I don’t like the smell of it,” she said.
“I wasn’t expecting anything, to be fair,” said Caleb, an amateur photographer visiting from Sydney. In just a day, the dozens of vendors who had occupied the bridge were simply replaced by tourists hoping to get the perfect shot. Caleb, however, did say he “definitely” would have purchased a souvenir if he’d been given the opportunity.
