On the cover of New York Magazine, a little boy dressed in a blue and gray flocked set of the famous puma holds in his hands a box full of sweets. We do not see his face but he symbolizes the immigrants who, like him, sell sweets in the metro or in the street to meet their needs. Most vendors are Kichwa-speaking natives from the rural highlands of central Ecuador. The New York bimonthly devotes its front page to it from August 14 to 27.
Journalist Jordan Salama spoke to these candy vendors to find out what brought them here, how they got there and what dangers they face doing this job.
“Children bring in more”
He first meets the Vega family, who emigrated from Ecuador to the United States in November 2022. Since then, every day, the men of the family seek work as laborers and the women and children go to the subway, where they sell sweets on the trains and on the platforms, from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Snickers, Oreo, Welch’s Fruit Snacks – priced at $2 each.
Most of the candy vendors work on the subway lines that lead to Elmhurst and Corona, Ridgewood and Bushwick – neighborhoods where Ecuadorian migrants have historically settled in the city.
Like the Vega, observes the journalist from New York Magazinethey are entire families fleeing a country mired in a socio-economic crisis, caused by draconian budget cuts and an overwhelmed health system that is barely recovering from the pandemic.
In his article, he also notes that many children work throughout the week:
“Even if their parents would like to put them in school, they admit that the children bring in more.”
During an interview for la rubrique “On the cover” of New York MagazineJordan Salama wishes that “this article helps to begin to better understand this new group of migrants who are trying to live in New York”.
2023-08-20 13:33:18
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