Food Truck Crack-Down Begins?
Less than 24 hours after City Council Members Jessica Lappin and Karen Koslowitz introduced a new bill designed to crack down on food trucks in New York City, we spotted this cop writing up a ticket for the falafel truck that started camping out on the corner of Front and Main Streets in Dumbo a…
Less than 24 hours after City Council Members Jessica Lappin and Karen Koslowitz introduced a new bill designed to crack down on food trucks in New York City, we spotted this cop writing up a ticket for the falafel truck that started camping out on the corner of Front and Main Streets in Dumbo a few weeks ago. Under the new bill, the DOH can revoke the vending permit of any truck that gets three parking tickets within a 12-month period. Lappin told the blog Midtown Lunch: “The piece of it that gets under my skin is the feeding of the meter. These are public streets and nobody has the right to use them exclusively. People were willing to look the other way, until it was being abused. It’s against the law but clearly the penalty [parking tickets] is not severe enough to make people obey the law.” Not surprisingly, food truck vendors are up in arms. “Revoking [a permit] at 3 per year sounds like a Stalinist sabotage of the industry,” said the man behind the popular Wafels & Dinges truck; he says he gets an average of three per month.
Food Trucks Could Face Ban for Too Many Parking Tickets [WSJ]
NYC Council to Introduce First Anti-Food Truck Law [Midtown Lunch]
New Bill Could Be Big Trouble for Food Trucks [Gothamist]
“You would think with the truck guys and gals having so much lower overhead they could offer something better tasting and healthier. Unfortunately, that is typically not the case.”
Dunno, tacos and falafel aren’t bad. Though the waffles truck would definitely do you in if you ate there every day.
Hell, I’m on the trucks’ side just because I like the food. I’m sure there are plenty of nice legal arguments, but until people start opening tiny stores selling $2 tacos out a window every couple of blocks, I’m all for taco trucks, and whatever legal shenanigans keep them operating.
Lower overhead and more flexibility means better and more varied quick eats and snacks. As far as I’m concerned, they’re not competing with a proper restaurant, they’re competing with a sandwich from the deli, a slice of pizza, or Subway. While I like pizza, most of the slices joints out there are low-quality enough that losing some of them won’t bum me out, and the delis have plenty of other stuff to sell (and, again, there are enough of them I’m not particularly concerned with them closing… though I personally wouldn’t want to piss off the Yemenis.)
tybur6 – you think about it for a second. You would be paying something in real estate tax and insurance, neither of which the truck guy pays, regardless of how much space you deemed measurable.
You would think with the truck guys and gals having so much lower overhead they could offer something better tating and healthier. Unfortunately, that is typically not the case. Slow death wrapped in starch seems to be the special everyday.
Pete — the same amount as the restaurants, massage parlors and bars… just enough revenue to make the expenses look correct.
wonder what % of this all cash business is declared for tax purposes.
Donald — Think about it for a second… If you had a space in a brick-and-mortar space of the SAME SIZE — i.e., a window and a 30 sq ft kitchen — How much would you be paying in real estate taxes and so on?!
The fact is that they’re not on the same playing field at all. The TRUCK provides food for someone to walk away with… the restaurant has seating and so on. Two different animals.
Who parks what where is besides the point. How about the inequity btwn retailers in the traditional bricks and mortar space paying rent that covers real estate tax liabilities and other costs a dude and his van don’t have to bear? Playing field is not level here.
OK, so I checked into this very briefly. To sell any food from a cart or truck you need a personal license. That costs $50 for two years, or $10 for one year seasonal April to October. (You need to pass a food safety course. Make sure you have paid all your ECB fines and are up to date on child support to avoid unpleasantness.)
Then you need a permit for your vehicle. Unlike the licenses, these are limited in number. The last time they added people to the waiting list was 2007 and they have no plans to open it now – you have to wait for someone to turn theirs in and that probably doesn’t happen often. It’s the same for a truck or a cart – $200 for two years if you are “processing” food i.e. cooking in excess of boiling hot dogs or making coffee. There is a list of streets and times that you can’t work on. $200 for two years “processing”, $75 for non processing. It’s $25 bucks extra, and a new form to fill out, if you want to sell “Frozen desserts.” Vehicles must pass inspection – not sure how much that costs – different rules for carts, trucks, “processing” or not.
If you can’t get a permit, they have an apparently unlimited number of “restricted area” permits too — those are the guys that can sell in city parks or outdoors from private, commercially zoned property (the sidewalk in front of your store doesn’t count). Apply to the Parks Dept. if you want to sell in parks, not sure if they have a limit but I’d bet they do. There may be some borough specific permits available also.
Street fairs are a different permit, easier to get but limited in location.
SMeyer – Like I said at the outset, store owners are the worst offenders when it comes to feeding the meters. They see the spot in front of their store as their birthright, and don’t see any problem making shopping that much less convenient for their customers.
DIBS – not logical?!? Shocking.