What a Fine Mess!

Once again the issue of overzealous enforcement and the Bloomberg administration is making news. Yesterday over 100 street vendors rallied outside of City Hall to protest a new fine stucture that would escalate penalties for these merchants.

We have had our past differences with the vendors and their advocates. The differences lie in our belief that the prol.iferation of these street merchants puts an unfair competitive burden on store owners who are saddled with high costs of doing business. When it comes to regulation, however, we're all on the same side of the municipal barricade.

The harsh fact is that this mayoral administration has not only raised fines to unconsciously high levels it has also heightened enforcement activity to a fevered pitch. That is why we continue to label the mayor's pompous "five borough economic plan" as a "five borough small business elimination plan".