[NYTr] Mexico City runs off 15, 000 unlicensed street vendors from historic district
 
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:13:50 -0500 (CDT)

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
sent by Milt Shapiro (mexnews)

AFP - Oct 13, 2007

Mexico City clears 15,000 street vendors

Agence France Presse

Visitors to Mexico City's historic center were to find it unusually 
empty this weekend after authorities forced thousands of unlicensed 
vendors to clear their stalls from its crowded streets.

Hundreds of police enforced the clear-out Friday on the mayor's 
orders after pressure from authorized traders and from the public who 
complained of stalls cluttering pavements and displaying pornographic 
films for sale in view of children.

The streets usually jam-packed with teeming crowds were largely 
deserted on Friday as a result, transforming the appearance of the 
old colonial district which Mayor Marcelo Ebrard wants to restore to 
its past beauty.

As for the vendors with their pirated DVDs, watches and clothing, 
some 12,000 to 15,000 of them were relocated to spots cleared for 
them elsewhere in the city center, the authorities said.

Pedestrians in the old center for a change did not have to weave and 
push to find their way between the crowded stalls, but could stroll 
at a more leisurely pace and admire the Spanish colonial architecture.

Road traffic was almost fluid, without the previous chorus of honking
horns.

"You can see the facades (of the buildings), it's a great discovery," 
said Paulina Vazquez, a 22-year-old student. "Since I was born, I had 
never been able to realize how beautiful some of the houses were. 
Here you're usually swamped in the crowd."

Vendors demonstrated on Thursday in an angry protest against the 
clear-out. They fear losing their livelihoods or at least suffer a 
drop in trade if forced to sell in the market places where they have 
been relocated.

"We live from day to day. I have three children to feed," said Carlos 
Ramirez, 35, who has sold perfume at an unauthorized stall since he 
was six years old with his parents.

"I am going to have to sell on the sly and if the police come, I'll run
off."

Copyright B) 2007 Agence France Presse.

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