Migrant Entrepreneurs Build Impromptu Market Outside NYC Shelter, Offering Coffee, Haircuts, and Hope
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A pop-up migrant market selling food, goods, and services has emerged outside the Randall's Island shelter complex.
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Migrants are trying to earn money to send home and build lives in NYC by working as vendors, barbers, chefs, etc.
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Prices range from $1 for coffee to $10 for a hearty lunch or haircut. Some vendors barter and accept cigarettes.
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Migrants plan to eventually leave NYC for cheaper cities like Columbus or return home and start businesses with their savings.
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The market has grown from a couple vendors to a bustling mini-economy, allowing migrants stuck in the overburdened shelter system to take fate into their own hands.