Mercado Morelos vendors say the reduced space will be a problem.
The new stalls made by City Hall for street vendors are already placed on what was to be the open balcony of the market. Photo: Héctor Ruiz.
Héctor Ruiz Mejía: There will be about 72 stores on the second floor of Jocotepec’s Mercado Morelos, according to the market’s tenants. Initially, 18 new spaces were designed to bring street vendors to the market from Morelos and Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez streets. That was not enough space, so 10 more new stalls were built. These wooden stalls have already been installed along what was intended to be the balcony of the second floor, so that “it would have an open space and a nice view,” said the vendors.
The current tenants say, “It was not as stipulated in the preliminary projects for the rehabilitation of the market.”
The new stalls, plus approximately 40 existing shops, will be on the second floor. But the street vendors have not yet been relocated and friction has already begun over space. Each store has an average of three merchants, so there will be approximately 216 people working in the area, not counting customers. Some vendors are concerned about the ability to maintain a healthy distance among all these people, and some say it is not possible.
“They are already trying to move my tables and no, I am not going to let them,” said one vendor who does not approve of the measure. “It is my space, and they have to respect it. I don’t know how we are all going to fit.”
There is also uncertainty among the former street vendors because “although the stalls are well made,” they explained, they are very small in relation to the space needed for merchandise. Each module measures approximately one and one-half meters wide (about five feet).
In addition, the space between each stall is only about eight centimeters (just over three inches), which one person described as, “like sardines.” Both the current tenants and the street vendors who will be added try to visualize a positive scenario to coexist and “give life” to the mayor’s long-awaited project.
“We will see how it goes,” said one vendor. “The truth is that we are very worried about how we are going to make ends meet. We hope people will come.”
Translated by Mike Rogers
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