Street vendor battles hefty fines

NEW YORK (WABC) -- In SoHo Monday morning, Alasanne Fall was back at work at a stand he sets up every morning selling phone cases.

On September 20th this father of six got three very expensive tickets.

One of them because his cart was five feet one inches tall, that's one inch more than what's allowed.

The fine was a thousand dollars.

"The ticket is too expensive! We have family to feed. We are here to work. We are not here to play a game. We never do any crime," Fall said.

Alassane that day even took video of what happened.

Alassane got another ticket that day, for being too close to a nearby store. That's another thousand dollar fine.

The rule is each stand has to be at least 20 feet away from a store entrance.

So Eyewitness News measured it and came up with and with 20 feet 3 inches.

But for some reason the officer wrote down 18 feet 10 inches.

"Absolutely harassment. 100 % harassment," Fall said.

Help could be on the way for this vendor.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is taking a look at possibly reducing fines and re-writing overly-strict rules.

Alassane's total fine that day was $2,250.

"It does seem like a lot, and it's something we're looking at. And I think the thing you have to recognize for this individual vendor he may have been the only vendor on that block right? And in this case where he was in approximation to the door, it's not that big of a deal," Quinn said.

Alassane says he'll fight the tickets; he has a team of lawyers helping.

He might just prove that you can fight City Hall.

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new york city, new york news, dave evans

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