San Francisco Mission street vendors to move again as city will close location it set up

SAN FRANCISCO — Street vendors in the San Francisco’s Mission District are having to navigate another move, and it’s leaving some feeling like they have to start all over again.

Rodrigo Lopez is packing up his stall at El Tiangue, after eight hours of work making at least $65 dollars.

Before the Mission street vending ban took effect in November, he would have made more like $250 on a typical day.

“For us it’s not a surprise anymore, but it’s going to be like a new start all over from zero,” said Rodrigo Lopez, a street vendor.

Now, he and other permitted vendors forced off the street are getting word that they’ll have to move again later this month. The city is shutting down El Tiangue on April 21.

“There’s a lack of foot traffic on this area. The location is kind of in the middle of Mission street between the two plazas so you have fewer people getting on and off BART, so we’ve been communicating with them and decided that it was not worth the resources the city is putting into it and close this site and use the resources to help vendors in a different way,” explained Santiago Lerma, street crisis coordinator of the Department of Emergency Management.

That will leave La Placita at 24th and Capp as the last option for vendors who are doing things by the book.

“We don’t really know if it’s going to be a better place for us or if there’s going to be more foot traffic, more sells, at this point we don’t know,” says Rodrigo Lopez.

Kevin Ortiz with the LatinX Democratic Club has been working alongside the vendors and said this particular experiment has been a waste of basically everybody’s time and money.

“It’s heartbreaking knowing that there has been a ban preventing folks from selling on the streets and burning money on a space that hasn’t been properly marketed,” expressef Kevin Ortiz, LatinX Democratic Club.

For now, Rodrigo is still weighing his options, especially because he has been here all day working with his family.

“I got everything on hold until I find out how it’s going to be the new place. I’m going to wait until maybe the 21st, 25th and see how everything goes and maybe I’ll decide. And I can say I’m going to choose to sell in La Placita,” Rodrigo Lopez, a street vendor, mentioned

And Rodrigo told KPIX they’re going to make the best out of this move and embrace the good weather outside, hoping for some better days ahead.