Sidewalk

At the start of the chapter, Duneier refers to Mayor Giuliani’s political ambitions and the views of academics Kelling and Wilson during the 1990s, stating they pushed for greater control of public spaces due to minor unrest on the streets. But local business owners like Jose Torres also echo their concerns about the drug habits or lack of hygiene of panhandlers and scavengers: “Apart from the nuisance they create […] they sometimes don’t look presentable” (231).

Andrew Manshel, an attorney for the Grand Central Partnership and the 34th Street Partnership, subscribes to the broken-windows theory of policing and believes vendors like Hakim persist in “anti-social” behavior that goes against the norms of society (231). The Grand Central Partnership is a powerful Business Improvement District (BID), which refers to an area in which local business and property owners pay fees for additional quality-of-life services such as street sanitation and security. By hiring such private services, BIDs use the broken-windows theory as a way to curb minor civic unrest on the sidewalks. Duneier speaks with Manshel to understand how Local Law 45, which places restrictions on vendors selling written materials, passed in City Council.