There are an estimated 10,000 street vendors in New York City, many of whom are immigrants. Walid Abdelwahab is one of them. His “everyday hustle” is working long hours cooking and selling food from a cart in Manhattan to support his family. He also confronts constant challenges that come along with vending on New York City’s streets, from long hours to obstacles deliberately placed on “his” piece of sidewalk. If he can’t work, he can’t feed his family. Yet for him, it’s all part of his American Dream.
We see them every day and often depend on them. They are an integral part of the fabric of any city, including New York. They are the people who make our lunch, deliver our dinner, drive us around, walk our dog, and sing for us in the subway. “My Everyday Hustle” offers five fascinating first-person profiles that reveal the struggles, successes, and “daily hustle” of everyday people.
Meet a dog walker, street cart vendor, on-demand driver, courier, and subway performer that are all working hard to just get by. Who are the people behind these jobs? How do they make ends meet in one of the most expensive cities in the nation? Is the American dream achievable for them? Learn about the everyday hustle for these New Yorkers and how they support themselves and their families, and how they see themselves “Chasing the Dream.”
This series was produced by Geraldine Moriba, Ed Hersh, Hazel Gurland-Pooler, Maya Navon, Julie Florio, Andrew Robertson, and Rich Abraham.
