During the Covid spike of 2020, we saw the many ways in which the city depended on essential workers who were part of the informal economy. However, these same workers were also harassed and targeted in attempts to restrict and control the jobs that sustained many precarious and immigrant families. These attempts were often in line with idealized visions of who should have the privilege of benefiting from existing on public land and in the public eye (e.g., the outdoor dining program). Measures to ‘formalize’ these networks of self-reliance continue to threaten these groups with tactics such as excessive fines, restrictive policies, raids, and market closures. These measures not only impact individuals but also the communities that use and rely on them.

For this ongoing project, I’ve been working closely with street vending organizations in the production, design, and discussion of a series of community planning workshops about stewardship and collective agency of vital community assets, such as ‘informal’ markets. Oral histories, neighborhood mapping, and design strategies aim to craft and communicate a collective vision for their neighborhood. This vision narrates how diasporas inspired new forms of engagement through activism and civic participation. The recent crackdown on vendors at Corona Plaza and Roosevelt Avenue highlighted many of the injustices immigrants face in securing jobs. The lack of economic support, planning, and a cap on vending permits from the city has created conflicts that merit a reparative listening and response discussion. An exhibition of the collected work aims to demonstrate new forms of cultural production through the movement of ideas and identities across cultural and national boundaries, and between the politics of space, aesthetics, belonging, and language.