New York Veteran's Peddler License

General Business Law section 32 gives a member of the armed forces who was honorably discharged, or who has a qualifying condition or is a discharged LGBT veteran with a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable, the right to hawk, peddle and sell goods on the streets of the county where they live, if they live in New York and are a veteran of any war or served overseas. The surviving spouse of such a veteran has the same right. How to get it. Take the discharge, or a certified copy or a certificate in lieu of a lost discharge, showing war or overseas service, to the clerk of a county where you have lived for at least six months, and fill in the clerk's form. The clerk issues the licence without cost. A surviving spouse adds an affidavit from themselves and two other county residents. The licence is good only in the issuing county, except that one issued in a county wholly inside a city is good across that city. Disabled veterans. Section 35 keeps a local law from preventing or interfering with peddling by hand-driven vehicle in any street or park by an honorably discharged veteran who holds a section 32 licence and is physically disabled as a result of injuries received in service. In a city of one million or more, which today means New York City, section 35-a has the City issue specialized vending licences to such veterans, with a priority list, the right to vend on block faces closed to other vendors, and limits of its own in midtown and lower Manhattan; see the New York City entry. Local rules still apply. Section 35 keeps municipal vending rules in force alongside the licence, subject to those protections. Ask the city or town about placement, permits and food handling before setting up.