Photos 03 May 2009 07:36 am
Sundayphoto – Foodcarts
- Paddy Doyle’s novel, “The Van,” made me realize that we had a lot in common with our British and Irish friends. The travelling food sellers are a common dressing though the cuisine sold, I’m sure, is different.
A major part of the look and feel of New York is in the food carts that are standing everywhere. In the past, my childhood, the carts were basically hot dog vendors. Then they added the salted pretzel, and things started to develop.
With the new immigrant class in the city, lots of new foods entered the picture, and in fact, I believe, they’ve taken over. Today it’s almost impossible to find a hot dog vendor. I’ve searched for one in the last week and was coming up empty-handed until I saw one late last night. A vendor was wheeling his cart home after what was, obviously, a long and tiring day. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera.
They still sell the hot dog and the pretzel, but you can add “Halal” foods to that menu. Shish-ke-bob, sausages, and so much more have been added.
This is what carts look like today. They come in larger sizes and smaller
sizes. They sell everything from shish-ke-bob to hot dogs to pretzels.
Their prices are usually a good deal, if you trust the sanitation.
Many of these carts sell sandwiches, bagels and breakfast pastries in
the morning. Sandwiches in the afternoon. They usually are established
locations and the same people occupy a space for many years.
Here’s that very same cart as the vendor sets up in the morning –
I shot this at 6am. This same cart has been here for at least 12 years.
In the wee hours of the morning, carts are delivered to the requisite areas.
Oftentimes, if the cart is small, you’ll see the vendor pushing it himself.
This one is setting up early morning across from
Madison Square Park on 23rd Street and Broadway.
Stocking the shelves with pastries, preparing coffee and icing juices.
Getting ready for the morning rush about to start.
Another similar cart, in the Village, all ready for the crowds. This one has an
overhang, to protect patrons from the rain, and a external cooler with drinks.
This guy is parked outside the IFC center downtown.
As you can see his menu is quite varied and ethnic.
Quite tempting.
You can also find fruit vendors around town. The prices of various fruits is about
half what the local supermarkets charge, and the quality is generally good.
Here’s a virtual travelling store. This truck is set up daily on 28th Street
off Madison Avenue to serve breakfast. They’ll cook the eggs for you.
Later in the day they move around the corner to Madison off 28th St. to serve dinner.
They’re open all night with lines of taxi drivers waiting to buy food from them.
I have to admit, I’m always tempted but haven’t tried it yet. After all,
can all those taxi drivers be wrong? The vendor must be doing
something right.
I also caught this truck downtown and wondered if they were
establishing a spot on Bleecker Street. But they never set up.
On the move.
on 03 May 2009 at 2:49 pm 1.John said …
Coming back home from my afternoon job during high school in the mid-70s, there was the daily stop at the hot dog cart at First Ave. and 36th St., just at the back side of the vehicle exhaust fumes from the Midtown Tunnel portals. The red onions on the hot dog were great, even though in retrospect, the water the dogs had been cooking in was probably 12 hours old by then.
on 04 May 2009 at 2:47 pm 2.daniel thomas macinnes said …
I really love your city photos. These remind me so much of my trip to Bogota, Colombia last month (well, late March), with its crowded streets and bustling shops. It’s a remarkable city that’s striving to join the modern world, and my only regret is in not taking enough photographs. I’ll be sure to snap many more next time I’m down there.
on 11 May 2009 at 12:10 pm 3.Susan H said …
lovely post (its making me hungry!) I’ve never been there, but I would definitely try the food from those vans.