New York Street Food

banh-xeo

I recently did a couple of radio interviews, one on WOR and one on WNYU.  Both interviewers asked me the same question, as have many other people – Aren’t you worried about getting sick, and how do you prevent it?

Cassandra James, a long-time resident of Thailand, recently published an article with some tips on how to safely eat street food.

Some of her ideas we’ve been telling you about for a while, such as eating at the most popular street vendors with the longest lines, and making sure the food has not been sitting around.  Some of her other ideas are just common sense, like avoiding mayonnaise.  A few ideas were new to us, such as eating more vegetable and less meat dishes.

Click through for the rest of her tips about eating street food safely.  A few minutes reading this could save you a world of sickness.

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No wonder TV news departments are under fire.  CBS TV had a report yesterday with the following sensational tagline:

CBS 2 Investigation: NYC Food Cart Safety

Street Vendors Are Part Of Heartbeat Of City And The Eats Are Often Unbelievable, But Just How Sanitary Are They?

Then they talk about 2 brothers who ran an Indian food truck business in NJ, and the house they used to cook the food in was disgusting.  When this story broke a couple of months ago, we heard from other food truck vendors in NJ that the food truck in question (cough, Banana Leaf, cough) was terrible, and people were often getting sick after eating from there.  They were pissed off at being lumped in with these bozos.

What this has to do food cart safety in NYC, who knows.  They have a picture of Kwik Meal, but don’t say whether they are one of the good carts or bad carts. (Hint: They were a Vendy Award finalist in 2008 and the People’s Choice winner in 2007.)  They also spoke with Thiru from the NY Dosa Cart, Samira and Grant from Street Sweets and Joe from the Wafels & Dinges truck, 3 of the best street food vendors in New York.  In fact, we were already planning to go to the NY Dosa Cart tomorrow for lunch, so watch for that review.

They also spoke with their own “Deep Throat“, a mysterious man in the shadows, who said many carts are cutting corners with cheap meat to save money.  With at least one food cart, often more, on every corner of NYC, there are bound to be better food carts and worse food carts.  If you have a few minutes to kill, here’s the link to the video and the print story, but it’s pretty shoddy journalism. [CBS TV]

This is exactly why New York Street Food exists.  To tell you where to find the best street food in New York.  We weed out the street food that does not meet our standards, and only include the best vendors in our listings.  Our motto should be: “We get the runs so you don’t have to.”

Mohammed Shirajul Islam

What’s a street vendor to do when Mother Nature calls?  If you’re Mohammed Shirajul Islam, a roasted peanut vendor in Lower Manhattan who’s been a street vendor for the last ten years, you leave your cart unattended, go to a nearby bookstore, and when you return, your vending license has been scratched away because vendors are prohibited “from leaving mobile vending food units unattended whenever food is maintained on the unit, as a matter of public safety.”

Mr. Islam says, “Now I have to wait until they give me a new permit, and that could take a month. I can’t sleep. Street vending is how I provide for my family.”  This is what the Street Vendor Project is describing as the first salvo in an imminent crackdown.

And Mohammed Shahajan, another vendor, pointed out, “Everybody has to use the bathroom—and should be able to. We are men and women—we are not made of plastic.” Vendors already have a hard time finding appropriate bathroom facilities during their long hours on the street. This will just make things worse. Shahajan and Islam will join other street vendors this morning (Tues) at 10 a.m. at a protest in front of the Health Department headquarters at 253 Broadway. [Gothamist]

If you can make it down there to show support, it would be very much appreciated by the street vendors we all know and love.  How many people do you know that can hold it in for 10 hours or so (or should have to)?

In an effort to become more of a “lifestyle” store than a drugstore, the Duane Reade at 6th Ave and 51st St is selling sushi, more specifically a California roll with brown (?) rice.  Hopefully, it’s not just old rice.

You shouldn’t have to worry about the imitation crab stick – that should last until the next ice age.  Avocado on the other hand could be worrisome, as would be fresh fish, if they were ever foolhardy enough to try that.

Look on the bright side – at least you can get Pepto Bismol with your dinner.

Condoms, cigarettes and sushi.  Sounds like they hit the late night hipster trifecta.  [Fork in the Road]

In Spanish Harlem and other parts of New York City, there are a lot of women immigrants from Mexico and Central America who work as street food vendors, selling gorditas, tostadas and other foods from their homeland.  They are called “vendedoras”, and many of them are here illegally, and do not know English or local food laws.

In order to help them out, an organization called Esperanzas del Barrio was formed in 2003 to specifically help vendedoras navigate the maze of being street food vendors in New York City.  Alison Bowen investigated their world and filed the following report, which describes a typical day for a vendedora, as well as some of the problems they face. [Women's eNews.org]