Police sweeping vendors off streets in Waikiki

By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer

In what may be the boldest move yet to revamp the image of Hawai'i's No. 1 visitor destination, Honolulu police have begun arresting street vendors in Waikiki.

Police have booked eight vendors in connection with allegedly breaking the anti-peddling ordinance on the streets of Waikiki in the past four weeks, according to Honolulu police Capt. Mike Tamashiro. Police also have issued warnings and more than 30 citations that require a court appearance, he said.

The push comes as a group of business and property owners spearheading the Waikiki Business Improvement District swings into action. The group has deployed street cleaners, and, starting yesterday, more than a dozen private security officers hired to offer directions and goodwill to visitors, but also to act as the "eyes and ears" of the police.

"It goes on and off for years - people complaining, we take enforcement action, things settle down for a while and then when they see no officer they come back out," said Tamashiro, who noted that the number of vendors has been growing in recent months. "But because of the BID, we've stepped up enforcement. We're trying literally to clean up Waikiki. People view some of this as kind of tacky, having peddlers out there selling wares. They peddle anything from fake body tattoos to arts and crafts and CDs and everything under the sun. So on any given night we have anywhere from 10 to a dozen vendors out there, and I mean groups of people that stretch from Duke's Lane to the Hyatt Regency."

Tourism executives have long been concerned that the shine has come off Waikiki, which in its one square-mile generates roughly 40,000 jobs and about $5 billion in tourism spending. The Business Improvement District, which covers the Kuhio-Kalakaua corridor, was created last year by about 1,600 business and property owners concerned with improving the visitor experience in Waikiki.

Rick Egged, president of the association that administers the BID, said enforcing the anti-peddling law is a matter of fairness, as well as visitor convenience.

"It's against the law for our members to set up tables and serve food on the public sidewalks, and for our members to roll counters or carts with product onto the sidewalks and sell it," Egged said. "Why should anybody else be allowed to just come in and do it? It doesn't make sense. You have a law that needs to be equally applied, otherwise the sidewalks would become indistinguishable from the stores, and it would be hard for people to get from one place to another."

An evening walk down Kalakaua Avenue this week suggested some vendors may have been frightened off by the recent police activity. Gone was a man who painted tropical scenes, an auntie who sells haku lei, a guy with balloons. Fewer vendors seemed to be about than during a similar walk six weeks ago, and regulars on the street said they had noticed a change.

"There were more before," said Attila Czeroven, a street performer who poses many nights as a human statue called "Gold Man" by locals. "I don't know if it's because of the cops. I heard they were passing out $1,000 tickets. I think that scared off a few guys."

Tamashiro said the citations that have been given have had no fine attached, but required a court appearance.

Some vendors, however, have not been deterred.

An Hi and his partner Yang Jin were both arrested three weeks ago, and said they each paid $100 bail. But this week they were out practicing their craft, offering visitors drawings of their names done in flowers and tropical birds.

"We have to survive," Yang said. "We're not afraid."

Some visitors said they like the vendors and feel they add to the character of the avenue.

"It's crowded, but I like crowds, so it's OK," said Deborah Will of Lancaster, Ohio, who was visiting O'ahu for five days with her husband, David. "I don't think it would be the same if the rest of them weren't here. It's like the different types of food you have here. If you take something away, it's not the same."

Egged said the BID security officers will aid visitors, but will also act as the "eyes and ears" of the police.

The BID patrols have no special authority, said Jim Fulton, spokesman for the Honolulu prosecutor's office, but like other citizens they can offer testimony that can be used against the vendors. The law is not new, and it has been enforced over the years as the problem ebbs and flows, Fulton said, but he and others could not remember when it was last enforced regularly.

"If they see a violation, they note the violation and call the police," Fulton said of the BID patrols. "These people can witness. We make the determination whether it's viable evidence or not."

The BID patrols also will act as representatives of the land owners, Egged said, allowing them to authorize police to act on trespassing laws if a vendor is setting up on a store's private sidewalk area.

In 1996, a different peddling ordinance was upheld that allowed the city to clear Waikiki of tee shirt vendors. Efforts to restrict Kalakaua Avenue's many street performers are pending in Circuit Court.

Michele Kayal can be reached by phone at 525-8024, or by e-mail at mkayal@honoluluadvertiser.com.