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Focuses on New York City street vendors, who mostly sell knock-offs of famous brands. Belief that the number of street vendors has increased, noting a wider variety of products offered and an increase in sales; Comments from Marshall Cohen, chief retail analyst for the market research firm NPD Group, regarding the growth in street vending and its impact on traditional retailers; Advantages related to trend-spotting that street vendors have over the department stores; Number of licensed vendors on the streets, noting a waiting list for licenses, according to Jonathan Mintz, acting commissioner in the Department of Consumer Affairs; Appeal for consumers to shop at street vendors.

The author offers advice on purchasing a Christmas tree. It can be advantageous to get a tree with a flat side, says David Murbach, who chooses the tree at New York City's Rockefeller Center. Murbach buys his tree for home from a street vendor. He measures the available space before picking it out, including room for a stand and a star on top. He asks the vendor to cut the trunk into a point, to expose more and help it absorb water. Sometimes he may use a handsaw to cut it a second time.

Focuses on immigrant cooks in New York City who serve quick, cheap and delicious food from makeshift stands at the curbside. Reputations; Publication of the vendors' specialties and often elusive locations on Internet message boards; Examples of their distinguished dishes; Background on Maria Piedad Cano of Colombia, who makes and sells arepas, or cornmeal patties; Why it is difficult for many vendors to obtain a license; How they avoid conflicts with restaurant owners; Brief interviews with mobile food vendors; Recipe for Oaxacan Tamales, adapted from Hilda Jaimes.

Reports on the issues regarding the control of vendors in the streets of Manhattan. Sale of different goods in the streets; Expiration of the city's vendor bill; Streets occupied by vendors.

Focuses on the best midnight sidewalk seller in New York City for 2002 according to the periodical, 'The Village Voice.'

Profiles Annie, a New York City street vendor who will be forced to move her operations following the relocation of the Fulton Fish Market. Possibility that she may not relocate with the market; Her relations with the workers at the market; Impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks on her business.

Focuses on plans for the Flatbush Vendor Mart, an indoor market in Brooklyn. Terms to which vendors must agree before being allotted a stall in the market, which will be run by the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce; Impact of the prohibition of street vending; Role of New York City Councilwoman Una S.T. Clarke in facilitating the city-funded project;