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Are Old City's famed First Friday vendors leaving for Fishtown?
The horde of fire-breathers, T-shirt sellers, jewelry slingers and other vendors who famously line Old City's streets every First Friday appears to be on its way out - and headed to Fishtown.
Are Old City's famed First Friday vendors leaving for Fishtown?
The horde of fire-breathers, T-shirt sellers, jewelry slingers and other vendors who famously line Old City's streets every First Friday appears to be on its way out — and headed to Fishtown.
The exodus is in response to a recent crackdown by the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections. A coalition of Old City vendors says that L&I officials approached them during May and June's festivities and told them to pack their bags because they lack vending licenses. One L&I official "said he'd confiscate all our stuff if we didn’t leave," says Clinton Meister, a graphic designer.
John Ireland, a T-shirt vendor, says that when he asked L&I "how to make this legal," he was given the runaround: Even if he did obtain a license, that still might not be enough. A zoning law bars vendors from operating in much of the area between Bainbridge and Vine streets, from the Delaware to the Schuylkill rivers.
L&I spokeswoman Maura Kennedy says the agency is "trying to be more proactive," and is responding to "a number of complaints from the business community" about vendors in Old City.
Larry Becker, co-owner of Larry Becker Contemporary Art, argues that vendors deserve to be ousted: "It's a safety problem. Pedestrians don’t have room to walk on the sidewalk because of [vendors], so they're pushed into the dangerous street."
During June's First Friday, after being kicked out of Old City that very day, Meister and other vendors spontaneously moved to Fishtown's Frankford Avenue — where, he says, "the local businesses and the locals were awesome to us!" Meister then created a Facebook event encouraging vendors and patrons to head to Fishtown’s events in the future.
Meister is bummed about abandoning a decades-long tradition. But, he admits, there's at least one upside: "Parking is way better in Fishtown than in Old City."
Larry Becker is the biggest joke in all of 0ld city. His Gallery boasts the most boring and non inspirational work in the whole gallery area of Old city. For him to say anything when he doesn't have the decency to change his own gallery month to month?? give me a break...
Good for all the vendors that are the REAL heart and soul of the art scene in Philly...not the pretentious wanna be-s that wish they were in New York and have been dying a slow and dismal death for years. As a Principal member of the "wellFed Artists Gallery" just a few years ago...I've seen this "scene" change from a stupid marketing ploy by the Pretentious Elite of Philly galleries to a real Honest street scene. It has tried to become legit, by artists getting Licenses and paying for space...but the idiots that are JEALOUS because they pay too much rent ion that arae...should just give up and be thankful that ANYONE comes to see ANYTHING in that area.
Fishtown...here we come!!!— bingo- L&I also were the geniuses that tried to get Mister Barstool to take away their Elvis and Blues Brothers statues because they were in the way. If it wasn't for the vendors, their wouldn't be ANY first friday...seriously, count how many galleries have closed in that area in the last 5 years....Shouldn't we be concerned that what use to be a viable property...aka...the Synapse cafe/vertigo gallery...has sat vacant for over ten years???safety issue? really? how many people have been hit by cars in that area in ten years on first friday??Becker is just upset that no one buys his "fields of color on top of color" paintings...— bingo
- Over regulation. Lack of responsive answers from city officials. Corruption. Incompetence. You name it and it is probably why Philadelphia is such an unfriendly place to do business for the samll guy...— SocialReject
- First Friday in Olde cityhas started to feel more and more like invading people space while their on the clock. "Peasant wants free wine?"......"I'm working don't bother me".........."this is just a promotion"..........."buy my art".........the street vendors themselves, perhaps, should recognize that God creates far more moving art than us. Their cause is far from noble.— posthumanhero
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