Two months after the incident where a man maliciously knocked his cart over in Los Angeles, Benjamín Ramírez got a sweet new custom elotes cart courtesy of Los Ryderz Bike Club.
Jay Pee, member of Los Ryderz bike club, felt compelled to do something, so he reached out to Benjamín’s family. He proposed building him a sleek custom cart that fit his every need.
Adding the cost labor and parts, the elote cart comes in at an estimated $2,500 dollars. For Benjamín, this generous gift is a chance to start over. Despite being very damaged, he continued to use the cart, which brought him physical pain. This a chance for him to pick up his business.
Jay Pee enlisted the help of Art Ramírez, who is a welder who creates custom bicycles as well as street-vending carts. Bejamín’s family headed to his workshop and Jay Pee and Art got to work right away, designing the perfect street-vending cart.
Pee and Art Ramírez enlisted more and more people to donate funds, materials, and labor to create the custom cart, even getting custom wheels from Warren Wong, known as the King of Wheels. In just five days, Jay Pee organized ten people to donate funds, parts, and labor for Benjamín’s new cart, the only one of its kind.
Art’s effort on the cart’s frame took a considerable amount of time and space in his workshop. He stated that he can afford to take the time to weld the cart because of money he has coming in from multiple bike orders. He explains: “My hands are for those who need me.”
Art Ramírez pointed out that he makes standard carts for street vendors, and a lot of them would love custom-made ones, but are reluctant to wheel around anything that attracts too much attention. He added: “They’re scared that they’ll lose their cart and the money they put into it if it’s too loud”.
The cart was delivered to Benjamín Ramírez’s apartment Sunday morning, where he and his family were cooking corn for the day’s work. The cart he’d been using had been badly damaged by what happened July.
Jay Pee and Art Ramírez stated that Benjamín is so famous now he probably has a pass against having his cart confiscated by the city. Although street vending was recently decriminalized in Los Angeles, vendors will still have to wait to see if the City Council approves an ordinance that will allow them to legally operate.
The next discussion on the matter will take place in a joint committee later on September. The process could take several months. In the meanwhile, street vendors will continue to operate in limbo.