South LA street vendors beg city to keep Fiesta Mini Mall open; say 90 days to vacate isn't enough

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Dozens of street vendors rallied outside city hall Tuesday to protest the demolition of the Fiesta Mini Mall in South Los Angeles, saying it could put them all out of business for good.

The indoor swap meet at 48th and Main streets is home to about 50 vendors. It's set to be torn down to build affordable housing units, but vendors are begging the city to keep it open.

"I don't know what's going to be a solution," said vendor Jorge Pech. "Now I have to look for a new building, I have to remove all of the equipment and it doesn't cost like a penny. It's going to cost a lot of money."

Councilman Curren Price, who represents most of South L.A., told vendors he has met with the project's developer.

"The plans to relocate have been postponed now for three months," he said. "We're going to give some breathing room so that all of the tenants could figure out what they are going to do and also be a chance to bring some resources in to assist them in this effort."

Rene Ramirez was at Tuesday's meeting when Price informed vendors that eviction notices have been postponed but he thinks three months won't cut it.

"You know, 90 days is not enough time for us, really," he said. "We have over 50 vendors here. There's a lot places like swap meets that are being closed down now and there's really nowhere to go. These people need a lot of help. Ninety days is just not enough."

Ramirez said one of the main reasons they need more time to move is so they can make more money to pay for the move.

"Really, what these people here need, what we all need, is more time," he said. "We need more than 90 days, possibly if he could do a year, that would be the best thing because more time equals more money, and if we have more time here, we have more time to earn money here. So that'll help us leave."