Vendor on MTA Property — Subway Grating, Station Entrance or Stairs

MTA New York City Transit Rules of Conduct, 21 NYCRR § 1050.6(b): "No person, unless duly authorized by the authority shall engage in any commercial activity upon any facility or conveyance. Commercial activities include: (1) the advertising, display, sale, lease, offer for sale or lease, or distribution of food, goods, services or entertainment (including the free distribution of promotional goods or materials); and (2) the solicitation of money or payment for food, goods, services or entertainment. No person shall panhandle or beg upon any facility or conveyance." § 1050.2(b): "Facilities includes all property and equipment, including, without limitation, rights of way and related trackage, rails, signal, power, fuel, communication and ventilation systems, power plants, stations, terminals, signage, storage yards, depots, repair and maintenance shops, yards, offices and other real estate or personalty used or held for or incidental to the operation, rehabilitation or improvement of any rapid transit railroad or omnibus line of the authority." A subway ventilation grating is part of the ventilation system, and a station entrance and its stairs are part of the station, so both are MTA facilities. Cite when a vendor's stand, cart, table or displayed goods sit ON a subway grating or ON a station entrance, its stairs or its landing. A vendor merely NEXT TO a grating or an entrance is not upon the facility: do NOT cite this rule then. This is the MTA's own rule and is separate from the City's placement rules; a general vendor on a subway grating may also fit DOT-VND-015. Keep confidence at or below 0.7 unless the stand or goods are unambiguously on the grating or the stairs.

• vendor table, cart or goods resting on a ribbed metal subway ventilation grating in the sidewalk
• merchandise laid out on the stairs or landing of a subway station entrance
• a vendor stand set up inside the railings of a subway entrance

1. Photograph vendor setup, cart, and whether permit decal is visible.
2. Note distance from curb, crosswalk, or subway entrance.
3. File at 311 under Vendor Enforcement or Mobile Food Vendor.

Official channel: portal.311.nyc.gov or dial 311. Agency: MTA New York City Transit.

DCWP and DOHMH fines vary by license type; unlicensed vending can result in confiscation and fines over $1,000.

DCWP and NYPD enforce vending rules. Food vendors also fall under DOHMH grade and permit requirements.

• Street vendors