Sidewalk

It would be impossible to discuss how the Sixth Avenue sidewalk came to be without an understanding of the ways race, class, and gender interact to produce policies impacting the men on this block. Systemic poverty and segregation have limited economic opportunities for many black men. These conditions, along with the harsh sentencing for crack cocaine—consumed more by low-income, minority communities—compared to powder cocaine leads to a decade of men who are in and out of prison in the 1980s and 1990s. When they are released, they are unable to find work in the formal sector due to their drug abuse/prison record, or because the traditional manufacturing jobs that they relied upon are no longer in demand.

These racial and socioeconomic factors are also important in understanding sidewalk relations. The white Romps are able to foster an immediate connection with the local community, likely in part due to their shared middle-class, white familial standing with neighbors. The black, poor men on Sixth Avenue are unable to make such an immediate claim with their upper-middle-class white neighbors.

Added on top of that difference is the negative trope of the dangerous black male in a public space, which emerges in the way that some female, upper-middle-class women in Greenwich Village perceive of the poor black men with whom they interact. That’s not to say that these barriers cannot be transcended—take, for example, the white woman who routinely donates magazines to Marvin and looks upon his work with pride—but that they impact the formation of policies like Local Law 45 in ways that must be acknowledged.  

Panhandler Leo says to Duneier: “Whatever I do with my money, at least I can say I earned it. That I have a reason to hold my head up” (84) Many of the workers on Sixth Avenue are compelled by an idea of abandoning a previous life of crime and alcohol abuse and earning an honest living—something that the sidewalk economy allows them to do. It is also no accident that these men turn to make a living on the sidewalk as they exit prison and can no longer find jobs in the formal economy. Even if there were jobs available for their skill level, many vendors like Ron would find it difficult to maintain a steady job due to sobriety and drug issues; day labor jobs that would fit their lifestyle have been on the decline. Therefore, socioeconomic factors and life circumstances also push men like Marvin to seek an “honest living” on the sidewalk, in addition to those who freely choose such a line of work, like Hakim.

The people on Sixth Avenue want to earn an honest living—whether it’s through scavenging, panhandling, or vending—as opposed to stealing or dealing drugs. Unfortunately for the men and women on Sixth Avenue, individuals like Andrew Manshel and Edward C. Wallace; Mayors Dinkins and Giuliani; law enforcement, local businesses and BIDs; and area residents don’t always see their activities as a legitimate way to make ends, but rather as a nuisance and public safety hazard. Although Duneier says that some aspects of broken-windows theories have likely reduced crime, he believes that the portions of the theory targeting “people trying to make ‘an honest living’ on the sidewalks are intellectually the weakest parts of these prescriptions” (287). Duneier challenges politicians’ ability to keep vendors off the street through zero-tolerance laws, stating, “Those determined to make an ‘honest living’ will keep deploying their creative competence and cultural knowledge, as the men and women on Sixth Avenue do, to survive” (313).

The workers on Sixth Avenue trade in something that money can’t put a value on: respect. It is the product that underlies every single transaction and interaction on the block. The centrality of respect is essential to producing harmonious relationships among vendors. It is out of respect for each other that they are able to maintain a fairly-complex system of informal social standards that govern the sidewalk. When these informal norms of respect break down, such as when vendors decide to no longer honor a vendor’s space due to dwindling space from Local Law 45, then so does the order of the sidewalk break down.

Respect also conditions the relationship between vendor and law enforcement. As a station officer says to Ishmael: “I’ve always treated you with the utmost respect, and, to tell you the truth, I don’t know why anyone would have a hard time with you, because you’ve always treated me with respect”(257). The officer is respecting Ishmael—and thus, recognizing his humanity—in order to diffuse tension. Recognizing the importance of respect in maintaining a positive working relationship with law enforcement, Ishmael is deferential in another situation to Officer X, who feels he has been disrespected by the largely black vendors despite their shared racial background. Lack of respect produces embarrassment, which leads to law enforcement taking matters into their own hands and punishing vendors through confiscation of their equipment. It is essential that both parties maintain respect for another’s position so the sidewalk economy can continue.

Respect also comes into play between vendor and customer. Hakim says he respects Jerome for his sincerity and his desire to work hard. Jerome clearly respects Hakim’s life experience and listens to him: “He knows what he’s talking about. He’s been there” (39).While working with Marvin, Duneier observes that the men bargain with customers routinely, which they do in a sense of fairness to receive what they believe they are rightly earned and to “maintain their self-respect” (65). He also notes that despite their differing backgrounds, lower-income vendors and upper-middle-class customers can often interact with ease. But that ease must be founded upon mutual respect. The customer must believe the vendor has a legitimate right to be there. When residents don’t respect vendors’ means of livelihood or their basic humanity, policies like Local Law 45 will be put in place to curb their presence. And sometimes these interactions can be disrespectful, as Mudrick demonstrates through his rude behavior to passing women, who not desire his remarks. There is a difference between respect and one-sided attention.

Further, it’s not just respect for a fellow vendor, customer, or law enforcement official, but also self-respect that drives the sidewalk economy. The men who thrive on Sixth Avenue do so because it allows them to take pride in what they do and gives them dignity in the work that they choose. Hakim leaves the corporate world primarily because of the disrespect he faces as a black man, and consequently finds meaning and self-respect as a vendor of black books who is well-regarded by his customers. Duneier says that “Hakim seems to consider himself a person of some consequence out on the street, not merely a public character but a street intellectual as well (18-19). Respect in one’s own task also influences the scavengers’ and panhandlers’ choices, as they believe “they have too much pride to engage in each other’s activity” (83).

Duneier concludes that the pavement provides a pathway for self-starters to earn a living and a mode of self-respect that would be difficult to attain for these men in formal society: “I found strong evidence for the rehabilitative forces of sidewalk life in the self-respect these men maintained as they sold their scavenged magazines and did complex work […]” (63).