A video recorded how a Parks Department agent abruptly grabbed a fourteen-year-old girl to arrest her in Battery Park, in lower Manhattan. A scene that outraged several vendors in the area.
“I feel very bad, I’m afraid to work but we have to work no matter what,” said Rosario Ante.
The incident occurred when police and park employees were confiscating products from unlicensed vendors.
Normally, the Housekeeping department handles street vendors, but in this case, only the Parks department has jurisdiction.
The girl and her family, Ecuadorian immigrants, were selling fruit when the employee stopped her.
In the video, people are seen shouting “Let her go!” while they try to help the girl.
“Wrong, I feel very sorry, I feel sorry because they are looking for a life, they are bringing their children,” said Wanda Ortiz.
The Street Vendor Project asks for the support of the city council to pass a new bill that seeks to expand the number of licenses for street vendors.
“They are not stealing, they are not doing anything wrong, they are trying to get their licenses to sell to work.”
Mayor Adams commented on the issue saying that this reflects the complexity of the problem of migrants and asylum seekers who cannot work legally.
Gabrhaile Brown, who filmed the videos, said parks employees tried to detain the girl after police had released her and criticized her behavior.
The teenager’s mother, 32, told us off camera that she still feels bad about what happened.
Although she has returned to work, she is afraid of being reprimanded by the Parks department. Neither she nor her husband wanted to speak on camera and mentioned that they already have a lawyer for the case.
From the parks department they stated in a statement:
“The first measure of the park surveillance patrol is to educate violators so that they comply with the law…. When an individual has violated the law repeatedly, we take additional measures and sometimes situations arise in which it is necessary make arrests.”
In parallel, an agency spokesperson told us that the incident is being investigated and the officer involved has been assigned to administrative duties while the investigation continues.
The girl’s mother received a summons to court, and the girl received a juvenile report.
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