City threat at the New Maxwell Street Market

Hi Foodies,

You've eaten their food, bought their chotchkies, and saw them on TV with Rick Bayless, Andrew Zimmern, and Bruce Kraig.

The vendors at the New Maxwell Street Market now need your help to ward off the excessive regulatory burdens and bad managment by the City of Chicago. Each month the Market gets smaller; and vendors and customers are in decline. The existence of the Market is at risk.

We have to fight to save every inch we can of the slivers of authentic Chicago we still have left.

To the rescue are the vendors themselves, the Maxwell Street Market Vendors Association, El Maxwell Street Market Asociación de Vendedores.

Please show your support for them by "Likes" them on facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/MaxwellStVendorsAssoc

Make it viral.

Their website is: https://maxwellstvendors.wordpress.com/

Thank you.

-- Steve Balkin, Culture Worker.
Professor, Roosevelt University.
sbalkin@roosevelt.edu

Apologies if I missed the information on the website but just what exactly is the threat? It seems to me that the threat to the market is the sad state of offerings that are the same as all of the other swap meets and flea markets with the added difficulty of trying to park downtown and no inside facilities for when the weather is bad or a person wants to use the rest room.
However, my gripes with the decline of Maxwell aside I am always looking for more reasons to bemoan the city's overzealous regulatory practices and would appreciate learning a little more about what is happening to the vendors.

thank you

Really. You think one of the most diverse and concentrated examples of Mexican street food and produce in the country is the same as every other swap meet or flea market in the US?

I agree that the City obliterated what was the Maxwell Street (and the market) years ago by first strangling it then razing it, but the "new" Maxwell market has plenty worth preserving, too.

I looked at both the links posted here, but I can't figure out what the threat is. I assume that the vendors understand what is referred to as "too many fines," but for everyone else, that is too vague. Lots of people in the city get fined or ticketed for lots of reasons. And there is a reference to insurance that (some? all?) vendors can't afford. Again, I don't know what that refers to. Even the linked article uses phrases such as "unnecessary expensive regulations, out of line with other outdoor markets in Chicagoland" and "city management unfriendly to the vendors." Any example of any kind would be helpful here.

If they want this message to be spread, they need to explain the situation to people who aren't already Maxwell Street Market vendors.

JeffB wrote:Really. You think one of the most diverse and concentrated examples of Mexican street food and produce in the country is the same as every other swap meet or flea market in the US?

I agree that the City obliterated what was the Maxwell Street (and the market) years ago by first strangling it then razing it, but the "new" Maxwell market has plenty worth preserving, too.

I might have used a little more vitriol than necessary but there really is not much at Maxwell as far as produce goes that you wouldn't find at the plentiful Mexican markets around. As for street food there is a lot of room for argument about its merit but Maxwell unlike other markets does not offer any cheeses, pickled foods, or sauces.

In any event I would like some information as to what the "threat" at Maxwell street is.

third coast foodie wrote:As for street food there is a lot of room for argument about its merit but Maxwell unlike other markets does not offer any cheeses, pickled foods, or sauces.

What the F is you talking about homie? I've seen and eaten plenty of all three with my food at the market.

My anecdotal evidence of myself tends to support a sense that "something" is happening at Maxwell. The last few times I was there, including this Spring, I've noticed a real lessening in vendors, especially food vendors. There were about (at least) 5 less food vendors.

That all said, on the question of produce, in the summer months, there's a small but sharp selection of local produce at Maxwell St. from farms in IL, IN and MI. Here's a report I did last year:

http://www.thelocalbeet.com/2011/08/02/ ... ll-street/