Midtown Lunch

If you follow the street food scene in Midtown, there was an interesting article on DNAinfo yesterday about how carts have been effected by the food truck crackdown in Midtown. Not surprisingly most of the cart owners are happy to see less competition, but with one exception… the owner of Bap Cha (on 49th btw. 6+7th) said that more people came to eat when the trucks were on his block. It also mentions an increase in food carts (like Wafels & Dinges, and the new Kati Cart by the owners of the Desi Truck), a fact that caused Gothamist to proclaim carts the bigger winners in this whole battle. But let’s not break open the champagne just yet.  Even though carts don’t fall under the meter law, they still face prohibitive laws of their own (laws that are usually ignored until there is a complain lodged, just like the meter law.)  We’ve been hearing that many food truck owners have been asking around about starting a cart, as a hassle free alternative to running a food truck.  And it’s true that carts are taking less flack right now, while the cops focus their attention on the trucks. But it won’t take long for them to turn their attention back to hassling carts, especially if those new carts attract the same crowds and attention as the trucks have over the past 6 months.

From here on out we will officially refer to food truck crackdowns as “shitnanigans”.  Also, I’m picturing the theme song from Superman playing the background… let’s show them our support!

Totally off limits to food trucks?

On Monday we mentioned that a number of Midtown East trucks had been kicked out of their spots, and hoped that it was just some passing phase and not a concerted effort to rid the area of trucks entirely.  After the Midtown West crackdown last month, many trucks sought refuge to the East making Park and Lexington in the 40s and 50s the last place for Midtown Lunchers to go for their food truck fix.  Well it looks like that migration didn’t go unnoticed, and now the crackdown has spread to the other half of Midtown.

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Thanks to Lunch’er Harry for posting this little tip in the forums… a new burger truck popped up on 55th and Park Ave. on Friday called Wall St. Burgers. All we know is what’s on their website. Grass fed angus burgers, crispy chicken wings, tempura battered onion rings, seasoned curly fries, and it’s called Wall St. Burgers because the owner quit his job on Wall Street to open the truck (a storyline we’re starting to get a little sick of, but we’ll reserve total judgement until we taste the burgers.)

Ironically enough, while this new truck was testing the waters of Midtown East, a few older trucks were getting kicked out of their spots…

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Just because we’re afraid that fully legalizing food trucks might open the door to a corporatization of street food, doesn’t mean we don’t want to show support.  In fact it’s important that the government knows that for every complaint they receive about food trucks (likely from brick and mortar businesses), there are scores of consumers who love and support those same trucks. Doing this will help ensure that the city thinks twice about passing new laws to further restrict street vending, and will hopefully help to encourage them to be a little more lax about enforcing the laws that currently exist.

The New York City Food Truck Association has created a petition that does just that.  Show your support and sign it today!

Anybody who has read this site for any length of time knows how much I love street carts and food trucks.  For 5+ years Midtown Lunch has celebrated, promoted, and advocated for the great street food in New York City.  But it might surprise some to discover that I don’t actually want to see food trucks (or any street food for that matter) fully legalized in Midtown. And you can read why in this op-ed I wrote for the New York Times.

We miss you Jamaican Dutchy Cart

This has been a relatively quiet week in Midtown for food carts. We haven’t heard too much commotion because most of them have chosen to set up elsewhere. The Financial District has seen Go Burger, Schnitzel & Things, Cevap Truck and Desi Truck all set up shop on the days they used to come to Midtown. Most of the trucks who have braved the pressure up here have stuck to the 30’s and the far east or west. It seems Comme Ci, Comme Ca has indeed found a non-metered spot on 36th and Broadway and has operated without too much trouble both there and on 55th and Lexington this week.

Sadly, Korilla BBQ has not had the same luck. They were booted from their new Garment District spot yesterday (on Broadway between 35th and 36th) and had some trouble at a dinner spot near Penn Station Wednesday evening when they were told they were not allowed to operate before 7pm.

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After the NYTimes article on Wednesday officially named Midtown off limits for food trucks, you’d think we’d have been left high and dry yesterday. But fortunately for us, there is a strong bond between these mobile food vendors and our hungry bellies, and they don’t want to go down without a fight (the food trucks or our bellies). The scene in Midtown was definitely quieter than usual yesterday, but a few trucks decided to give it another go. Crisp on Wheels, Gorilla Cheese, and Wafels & Dinges all seemed to make it through the lunch shift without too much trouble. Korilla BBQ took to the hinterlands and set up out of bounds on Ninth and 39th Street, and it sounds like the only problem they had was running out of meat. Hell’s Kitchen and Flatiron may get all the love in the coming weeks.

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