Street vendors say the NYPD shut down dozens of sellers along Fordham Road in the Bronx this week. 

It comes after store owners began complaining about Grand Concourse being overcrowded with street vendors, many of whom they say are operating without a license. 

The Fordham Business Improvement District said that the sidewalk sellers outnumber brick and mortar storefronts on Fordham Road 242 to 230. 

However, street vendors say they’re just trying to make a living. Permits for street vendors in the city are currently limited to 2,900. 

Recent legislation passed to increase this cap but new permits won’t be phased in until 2022. 

Advocates say what both street vendors and storefronts need is better communication and education, not police. 

At a press conference on Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that he sympathized with brick and mortar businesses and said that the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection would be leading this issue, with back up from the NYPD.