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As of May, Navarro no longer works at the corner of Main and Ervay, but down toward the other end of the Main Street district, at Main and Akard. Despite the residents' clamor for more such vendors and developers like Larry Hamilton praising the importance of an active street life, Navarro lost his corner.
Hal Samples
Hal Samples
From atop the Mercantile, the street-level problems of downtown seem far away.
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At the beginning of May, city health department officials told his sister that she couldn't renew her license at that spot. She was allowed however to renew the license at a spot just down Main Street at Akard in Pegasus Plaza. Williams' plan was to grow the business to dominate Main Street, first at Ervay, then Akard and finally St. Paul. But the city got tired of repeated complaints from businesses in the area.
At the health department, a receptionist told Williams that if she wanted anything further she'd have to talk to the department supervisor. Williams did. He said he was sorry, but there had just been too many problems, recalling the complaints about Navarro smoking near the food and the water not being hot enough, among others. So instead of having two carts in downtown, now the brother and sister have just one but plan for more.
Now Navarro stands at Akard. He has a new set of customers, but wishes he could move to get his old ones back. There was this one sunny April weekday morning, back at his old spot, where his reputation seemed to be cementing among the nearby office workers just by word of mouth.
It had been a good day. He had resolved to never talk again about the situation with the restaurant, and just push forward. He kept going back and forth to the front and back of the cart, turning up a song on the radio, straightening a sign, turning the umbrella.
Three men in their late 20s approached his cart, and Navarro started his show. "Let me put on the honorary gloves," he said. He opened the bin for the hot dogs and talked about the onions and spices he puts in his water. Then he dumped plenty of the neon green relish—a Chicago classic—on the hot dog. The guys had been looking for him this week, after a buddy from their office recommended the vendor's food.
Navarro handed one a hot dog and said, "If you don't like it, give it back and Uncle Vinny will eat it, but you won't get your money back. This is not McDonald's!" The guys laughed and stayed standing on the street corner, eating dripping hot dogs and talking.
You know—street life.
After they left, Navarro looked proud. "Why not make the street corner more interesting?" he said. "People walking by, they hear my little radio, and say, 'Oh, I remember that song.' Or big news or something important comes on and they want to hear it, then everybody stands around listening. That's the way it is in other big cities."
