Zohran Mamdani has called Fiorello LaGuardia his favorite mayor, and it’s easy to see why. LaGuardia, a liberal Republican, was a progressive visionary who helped build affordable housing and other grand public works just as New York emerged in the 1930s and ’40s to become a modern metropolis. W ith that in mind, I’d like our new mayor to pull a page from LaGuardia’s playbook, and emulate one of his boldest actions. But be warned, Mr. Mayor-elect — you might not like it. LaGuardia enacted numerous “peddler laws” to curb the then rampant presence of unregulated vendors. The laws followed a great deal of investigation and prompted just as much controversy, especially when applied to Christmas tree sellers. But they were strictly enforced, often with an eye towards public safety and consumer protection — and with an overriding desire to bring some organization and cohesion to the then-chaotic and crowded streets. For LaGuardia, this must have been an especially tough call. He was of Italian heritage and born to a Jewish mother; a great many vendors in those days were indeed Italian and Jewish. These were his people and it’s likely the majority of them voted for him. Also, this was a time when the city was emerging from the Great Depression, when many of those earning their livings on the streets felt that they had no other options. To his credit, LaGuardia and his administration moved the vendors into numerous markets around the city, including the Arthur Avenue Market here on Arthur Ave., where I’m chairman of the local Business Improvement District. Yes, they were regulated and had to pay rent (minimal) and keep their areas clean, but they were no longer on the streets — they essentially owned their own co-op spaces, which they could sell. It worked. Today, New York City is also at an inflection point, especially when it comes to our crowded curbs and sidewalks. It’s not just vendors — although they are a big problem, from Fordham Road in the Bronx to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn — e-bikes, Citi Bikes, scooters, and new rules requiring garbage containerization clog our sidewalks. Despite the regular encroachment of pedestrian space on the cubs and sidewalks, there seems to be no coherent plan. Now Bronx Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez has introduced a bill to increase vendor licenses by 2,100 a year — ordering them to be issued in all the boroughs except Manhattan — coming to 10,500, with a cap for both food and general vendors of 20,500. Sanchez is rushing to get the bill done in the current administration. Even though it’s been somewhat softened in negotiations, it is still unacceptable. How does this bill fit in with all the other items crowding our sidewalks? Nothing in New York City happens in a vacuum. There is no doubt that the current system is a mess, with only 853 vendor licenses, an artificially low number that practically begs for illegality and a black market in licenses, and essentially no enforcement. So, with that in mind, let’s look back to Mamdani’s hero, LaGuardia. Mamdani has spoken early and often about how our small businesses are the backbone of the city. I should know — my family has run a bakery on Arthur Ave. for more than 100 years. But illegal vendors add to the struggle of small businesses. A small business must pay taxes and rent and is responsible for the sidewalk and curb right out front. Vendors can sell the same goods without enduring any of these costs or regulations. All this results in real tension on the sidewalks between brick-and-mortar businesses and folks who plop down a blanket or a card table and sell the same merchandise at half the price. Frankly, there are no numbers to help us calculate the scale of this problem. Before we go so far as to raise caps, we need a citywide unbiased, deep dive examination of everything on our streets. Enforcement is key as decades of past promises of enforcement have been at best sporadic and ineffective, so you, Mr. Mayor-elect, must be front-and-center in these conversations, along with your commissioners. And how about LaGuardia’s markets? Perhaps building new ones is unrealistic, but there may well be various plots of vacant land and armories where vendors could set up today — and become owners, in a way, of their own destinies. So Mr. Mamdani, as you bring us into the future, look to the past. This is your LaGuardia Moment. Madonia, a former chief of staff to Mayor Mike Bloomberg, is chairman of the Belmont Business Improvement District. ...read more read less