NEW YORK (VINnews) — Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Small Business Services Commissioner Kenny Minaya have appointed longtime advocate Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez as the first executive director of the city’s Office of Street Vendor Services, launching the agency months ahead of schedule as part of a broader overhaul of street vending laws.

The new office, created under legislation passed by the City Council, will serve as a centralized hub for vendor education, outreach and assistance, as the administration prepares to roll out sweeping reforms and expand access to legal permits for thousands of vendors.

The city's 23,000 street vendors are squeezed by skyrocketing permit costs and government getting in the way. That's part of why we're seeing "halalflation".

So I appointed Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez as our new Street Vendor Czar.

From the Street Vendor Project to now City Hall,… https://t.co/iSjTG20b1b

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) March 25, 2026

Kaufman-Gutierrez, formerly co-director of the Street Vendor Project, brings more than a decade of experience working with small businesses and street vendors. She is tasked with building the office from the ground up and leading a citywide effort to help vendors transition into the formal economy.

“Our street vendors are not a problem to solve — they are a community to support,” Mamdani said, framing the initiative as part of his push to combat what he has called “halalflation” by lowering operating costs and increasing legal access to permits.

City officials said the office will coordinate across agencies, community groups and business stakeholders, while also recommending policy changes aimed at reducing penalties and shifting toward what they describe as fairer enforcement.

The move comes as the administration begins implementing a “Street Vendor Reform Package,” including the issuance of tens of thousands of new vending licenses after decades of caps that fueled a lucrative underground market.

Deputy Mayor Julie Su described the initiative as part of a broader push for economic justice, calling vendors “small businesses with an outsized impact” on the city’s economy and culture.

Minaya said the office represents a “paradigm shift” in how the city treats vendors, emphasizing support and integration rather than enforcement.

Kaufman-Gutierrez said the goal is to center vendors—many of them immigrants—within city policy and provide the tools needed to operate legally and grow their businesses.

The office will also launch a citywide outreach campaign to connect vendors with new licensing opportunities and resources, though officials have not yet released budget details.

Supporters, including City Council members and advocates, praised the appointment as a long-overdue step toward legitimizing a workforce that has historically faced fines, enforcement crackdowns and limited access to permits.