A disabled U.S. Army veteran and longtime food cart vendor has filed an $8 million lawsuit against the city, claiming he was falsely arrested for trying to make a living, court documents show.
Food vendor Armando Crescenzi was arrested and served with a summons for “illegal vending” in February while driving his cart on West 34th Street and Broadway, according to his complaint filed last week in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“It’s very basic,” said his lawyer, Gary Fish. “He wants to make a living and the police are getting involved.”
Although an administrative court dismissed the case in April, Fish said there were too many police officers issuing summonses to disabled veterans working as food vendors, who receive special privileges from the state.
“The police hand out these summonses like candy,” Fish said, “and invariably, these cases are dismissed by the court.”
As a protected class, disabled military veterans enjoy “absolute protection” to operate as vendors wherever they choose under an 80-year-old state general business law, Fish said, akin to a “get out of jail free card.”
Fish said Crescenzi’s lawsuit is about making sure police officers understand the law and stop harassing hard-working disabled military veterans in the city.
Police ignorance about the legal privileges afforded to the nation’s heroes trying to make ends meet means that “there is an element of seriousness inherent in every summons issued,” Fish said.
“The police have been aware of this for some time,” Fish told the Post. “These disabled American veterans have an absolute right to sell.”
Crescenzi, a Gulf War veteran who is no stranger to the man’s harassment, declined to be interviewed.
City officials did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
