New York Street Food

Cake & Shake last year at Washington Square Park

First Cake & Shake had to deal with impostor carts.  Now they have to deal with other vendors exploiting the “veteran loophole” to conduct business in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

As mentioned in Gothamist, A 19th century law permits veterans to sell in areas where others are not allowed to.  Cake & Shake, who reportedly are paying over $100,000 to the NYC Parks Dept for this primo spot in front of the Metropolitan Museum, are suffering.

Other carts have been employing veterans to exploit this loophole, and Cake & Shake’s Derek Hunt said his business is down 40%, and will be out of business by the end of the month if nothing is done.  The Parks Department tells the Post that they are working with the NYPD to determine whether “additional enforcement measures can be taken.”

At this point, Cake & Shake is refusing to pay the rent because of license-less vendors who sell there by using the veteran loophole.

If you’re by the Met, stop by and give them your business.  In addition to delicious cupcakes and shakes, they have savory pastries as well.

More to come…

Cake & Shake last year in Washington Square Park

If you read New York Street Food, you have probably heard about Cake & Shake, a cupcake and milkshake cart that had 2 carts, one in Washington Square Park and one outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  They closed the Wash Sq Park cart this year, but still have one outside the Met.

Now a new cart has appeared on West 53rd St & 6th Ave selling cupcakes and milkshakes under the name Cake vs. Shake, according to an article in DNAInfo.

“We have some imposters,” Derek Hunt, one of the owners of Cake & Shake told DNAInfo.  Hunt said he first realized something was off when he began receiving calls from customers asking if he’d moved.

Gina Ojile of Cake & Shake

The latest dessert cart coming to New York is Cake & Shake.  They are paying big bucks for licenses from the city for 2 different locations: one in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and one in Washington Square Park.  Cake & Shake will pay the city $108,000 a year for the museum spot, going up 10% each year.  The Washington Square Park spot will net the city $27,000 in the first year with a 5% annual increase.  The carts will be powered by solar panels and bio-diesel fuel.

Cake & Shake will have 5 different cupcakes each day from a rotating cast of 20, as well as shakes made with real fruit.  Some of the cupcakes are meals in themselves, with fillings like ham, sausage, chicken and turkey, and they will all be organic.  Cake & Shake will offer $3 confections like the London Lilly (Earl Grey teacake with sarsaparilla mousse) and the Whatchamacallit (caramel mousse and nougat frosting).  Gina Ojile, who with her partner chef, Derek Hunt, is testing recipes and preparing to launch the carts from a commercial bakery in Astoria, Queens.

The Washington Square Park cart should be in operation at the end of the month, and museumgoers can expect their own cart there two months later. [Daily News]