Photos &repeated posts 05 Feb 2012 04:43 am
Foodcarts – Recap
Here’s a favorite post from 2009. A repost, if you will. All of these food carts are still in the same places, and the piece could have been photographed yesterday.
- 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 05 Feb 2012 at 9:53 am 1.Stephen Macquignon said …
There is a cart around Madison Square Park that makes waffles
on 05 Feb 2012 at 10:52 pm 2.Elliot Cowan said …
You mention hygiene.
These guys can’t afford to poison anyone or they’d be out of business permanently.