Vancouver’s controversial Downtown Eastside street market could soon have a new home.
The market’s current site at 26 E Hastings is slated for redevelopment by BC Housing, and the City of Vancouver has proposed demolishing a dilapidated two-storey heritage building at 123 E Hastings, across the street and one block east, to act as a new site.
According to the city’s development application, the new site would be temporary and have space for 30 to 35 vendors, two toilet facilities, tents and a site office and storage container.
The city proposes having the market open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The street market has been a fixture in the Downtown Eastside for years, and has faced controversy over allegations it is used to move stolen goods.
The City of Vancouver has long supported the market, citing its role in providing low-barrier income opportunities for residents of the Downtown Eastside.
It’s an opportunity Divin Atumisi Emannuel, who is on disability, told Global News he relies on.
“I’ve grabbed things all over the city from binning … and I’ll come back and look at the products I have and sell them at the market,” he said.
“It gives people a job and a sense of community, because there is people who take pride for example in sweeping the place, there are others who take pride in setting up the tables and cleaning up afterwards. All those people need to be acknowledged and need to be occupied, so I really think its a great way for them to continue doing it.”
But the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has long alleged that some people are using the market as a place to fence stolen goods. The force went as far as to urge people not to shop there in 2021.
On Friday, VPD spokesperson Tania Visintin said police have renewed concerns about the market.
“Over recent weeks we have seen this has evolved and organized crime groups have kind of taken over, it’s definitely fueled all the violent shoplifting that’s been happening throughout the city over the past few months. We feel these organized crime groups have come in and things have shifted,” she said.
“There’s a lot of trafficking going on,” she further alleged. “With this trafficking brings a slew of violence, and we’ve been seeing that over the last few months, violence against people who live in the DTES and even on officers who work in that neighbourhood.”
The non-profit Binners’ Project, which operates the market on a contract form the City of Vancouver, deferred questions to the city.
In an email, a City of Vancouver spokesperson said the city holds bi-weekly meetings with the VPD and market operator “to address any concerns that may arise.”
The spokesperson added that the new site is a short-term plan until a longer-term solution can be worked out.
In the meantime, the city is soliciting public feedback on the proposed new site at 123 E Hastings.