Vendors, Bike Messengers, and Dog Walkers on Working Outside in Cold Like This

The Brian Lehrer Show | Jan 29, 2014

Do you make your living working outside? How has the recent snow and cold temps affected your business? Stephanie Barreto, staff organizer for the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center talks about the challenges presented by the recent extreme winter weather to street vendors and others making their livings out of doors and is joined by Bernard Haynes who sells merchandise on the street in Harlem.

The Dosa Man from Wash Sq park calling in: "Yesterday I was really cold." Says he only worked about 8 days in January.
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 29, 2014

"Working out in the cold like this, it's just all mental." -- bike messenger on the power of positive (warm) thinking.
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 29, 2014

"The thing is... no matter what the weather, they have to go outside and pee. We're like the mailmen." -- Sean the dog walker.
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 29, 2014

"The Obama posters...they don't really sell right now" says vendor talking about working outside in the cold. These days, scarves and hats.
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 29, 2014

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

WNYC Homepage - Top Stories

'It's chaos': LIRR commuters face shutdown, workarounds on first weekday of strike

The MTA says backup shuttle buses can carry only a fraction of regular LIRR riders.

Gothamist |

The History Wars and America at 250, with the Historian Jill Lepore

Three prominent historians discuss a national milestone arriving in the midst of a politically charged conflict over how Americans see the past. It’s a “goat rodeo,” Lepore says.

The New Yorker Radio Hour |

10-Question Quiz: American History

Author Kenneth C. Davis quizzes listeners on American history.

The Brian Lehrer Show |

Democrats make a run for Stefanik's seat

WNYC News |

On an off-Broadway stage, actors bring immigrant stories alive and spark public debate

Immigrants' stories have been unfolding on an off-Broadway stage in an uncommon way. One is of a doctor in her 40s who fled Zimbabwe. Another featured a Colombian woman who regretted leaving her homeland for the United States. A third entered into a marriage of convenience with an American after overstaying her visa, and then suffered a violent assault in the subway.