Cypress Park celebrates the launch of 21st Century Vendor Commissary

This weekend, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, Comisaria Cooperativa-Unión de Trabajadores Móviles and Pico Union Housing Corporation announced the grand reopening of the Cypress Park Commissary.

For 25 years, longtime vendors located on 3210 North Figueroa Street had previously occupied the newly-launched space. Despite this, in the past year and a half, more than 30 fruit sellers, taqueros and ice cream truck vendors have fought to avoid being abruptly and illegally evicted from La Palma Ice Cream & Candy Commissary, now known as the Comisaria Cooperativa-Unión de Trabajadores Móviles.

Vendors were faced with compounding pressures, leading to most being forced to evict, primarily because of rent cost increases during the pandemic. Now that the 21st Century Vendor Commissary Model has launched, it will help preserve the legacy of longtime vendors while ushering in a new era of community-centered commerce in Cypress Park.

The commissary also establishes and secures a safe spot for food vendors. As well as teaching vendors how to work in a healthy environment without the fear of violating the law.

After taking office, Councilmember Hernandez initiated a plan to develop a sustainable vendor-owned and operated commissary in conjunction with the existing vendors, who had formed the cooperative called Comisaría Cooperativa-Unión de Trabajadores Móviles.

“We are excited because this is a project that we accomplished together and with support from Councilmember Hernández,” said Claudia Rebollar, Commissary Cooperativa-Unión de Trabajadores Móviles President. “The reason we want to preserve this commissary is because there are very few spaces like this and because it's an attempt to change the working conditions of mobile street vendors and our families.”

As a fiscal sponsor, Councilmember Hernandez invested over $400,000 of her office's discretionary funds and partnered with Pico Union Housing Corporation, a leading organization for vendor rights and education, to build the vendors' financial capacity and eventually pay the lease fully as a collective.

“Pursuing true economic equity means making bold investments to make sure communities aren’t left behind,” said Councilmember Hernandez. “My office’s decision to fund the launch of the Cypress Park Commissary has offered vendors the opportunities they deserve to build and sustain their businesses. I am proud to stand alongside Comisaria Cooperativa-Unión de Trabajadores and Pico Union Housing Corporation to celebrate the reopening of the commissary, and we will continue to support the vendors as they grow their collective capacity to sustainably manage and operate the facility.”

Reopening the Cypress Park Commissary marks a significant milestone in Hernandez's commitment to empowering vendors in her district economically and culturally.

“For the first time, in collaboration with Council District 1, Pico Union Housing Corporation, and Comisaria Cooperativa-Unión de Trabajadores Móviles, we established a space for street vendors to work in a safe and healthy environment without fear of breaking the law,” said Gloria Farias, Executive Director of Pico Union Housing Corporation. “Together, we are teaching them how to build their own non-profit, own their own LLC, and learn to be self-sufficient. We are grateful to Councilmember Hernandez for making this dream come true.”

Those interested in finding out more about Comisaria Cooperativa-Unión de Trabajadores Móviles can call (213) 858-8427.