Another day, another complaint (and threat) for street food vendors – but this one makes even less sense than usual.
As DNAinfo reports, cabbies around Columbus Circle are complaining about food trucks and carts crowding taxi stands, costing them fares from shoppers exiting The Shops At Columbus Circle. And City Councilwoman Gale Brewer is listening to their complaints.
“Taxi drivers have been complaining to me because they can’t pick up passengers, then they double park,” Brewer said. “There aren’t a lot of safe places in that very congested location. It gets dangerous.” Brewer is now introducing legislation to keep the vendors away from Columbus Circle, a move that she “expects City Council to approve easily.”
There’s one big problem we see with this.
We work in the Columbus Circle area and walk by there very day. While there are hot dog & pretzel carts, halal carts, and even a Wafels & Dinges cart, there are no food trucks at Columbus Circle.
The illegality of food trucks in New York has been well documented by us, but our understanding is that food carts are allowed to set up on any sidewalk in the city, other than in city parks. We are pretty sure Columbus Circle is not a city park.
We’ll have to see how this one plays out.
