“I haven't sold for a month now," MacArthur Park street vendor Francisco Zuniga, told L.A. TACO in Spanish. "I don't even have enough to pay the rent. Yo ya llevo un mes sin vender, no tengo ni para pagar la renta.”
The 64-year-old is among dozens of street vendors who were displaced along Alvarado Street and around the Westlake/MacArthur Park Metro station in late January, after a chainlink fence was installed following a shooting in the area.
The incident, which left five bystanders injured, pushed the City of Los Angeles to install the barriers on the sidewalk.
Almost two months after being installed, with no resolution in sight, street vendors fear that many of them are on the verge of living on the streets, especially if the situation isn’t resolved soon.
“All of us vendors feel like we are being cornered and blocked off," said street vendor Maria Garcia, who sells everyday household products from her stand, in Spanish. "We need to work. We are honest and hardworking people."