![](\"http:\/\/consumerist.com\/assets_c\/2010\/02\/022210vendor-thumb-300x277-37336.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
It’s a problem that’s common to men and women who drive trucks, make deliveries or work outdoors — When do you go to the bathroom? Well, a law recently passed in New York City gives street vendors an easy answer: Never. Just ask Mohammed Shirajul Islam, a 10-year veteran of the business who is now without a permit because he dared to answer nature’s call.<\/p>\n
According to a new regulation from the city’s Department of Health, vendors are prohibited “from leaving mobile vending food units unattended whenever food is maintained on the unit, as a matter of public safety, and food defense; the food must be secured and not in reach of the public.”<\/p>\n
So last week, when Mohammed took a quick break to use the facilities at a local store, he returned to find his cart permit-less.<\/p>\n
“When got back to my cart, the permit had been scratched away,” he explains. “Now I have to wait until they give me a new permit, and that could take a month. I can’t sleep. Street vending is how I provide for my family.”<\/p>\n
While a DOH rep pointed out that Mohammed could always hire a second person to help him run the cart (because that’s financially feasible, right?), Ali Issa, director of organizing at the Street Vendor Project, called the DOH’s policy cruel.<\/p>\n
“Vendors already have a hard time finding appropriate bathroom facilities during their long hours on the street,” said Issa in a statement. “This will just make things worse.”<\/p>\n