Here in Philly, we’re obsessed with our food carts. Don’t let anyone fool you. The best Philly cheesesteak is found on any corner of any Philadelphia street where the humble food cart proprietor (who’s usually an immigrant) makes a feast fit for the gods. Almost everyone here has a favorite food cart, be it Greek, Indian or Italian. Food cart offerings constitute a supplemental staple of almost every Philadephian’s diet. (Okay, fine. Perhaps mostly mine.I’m what you’d call a food cart veteran.)

So I was interested to hear that Helen Sears, a Council Member in Jackson Heights, NY wants to pass a bill that would do away with the food cart in certain busy sections of the town.

“Sears has been very anti-street vendor for a long time,” said Rafael Samanez, executive director of Vamos Unidos, which organized the rally with South Asian group Desis Rising Up and Moving. “She doesn’t understand what our community is about.” His group was angered by an essay titled “The Food Cart Invasion” in the Jackson Heights Beautification Group’s summer newsletter, which is circulating through the community. It accuses the vendors of blocking pedestrian traffic and cutting into the business of local merchants. The essay also encouraged readers to find ways to get rid of them.

[Link.]

Hmm, get rid of them? Besides refusing to patronize them? Wonder what the other ways are. Sears and supporters of the bill say it’s not about race, or anti-immigrant sentiments. So what’s it all about? Jackson Heights Beautification Group’s website says they only want the following:

JHBG supports: high standards; preservation; local pride; diversity; inclusion; cleanliness; greenery; civility; local schools, institutions, and merchants; and anything that enhances Jackson Heights. JHBG opposes: graffiti; litter; crime; pollution; disorder; intolerance; landmark violations; noise; and apathy.

Hmm, food carts certainly fit into diversity/inclusion/merchants. Yeah, not seeing how food carts pertain to the quality-of-life issues mentioned in any of these. As I understand it, landmark violations relate only to existing structures. And I can’t see food carts contributing to the vague listings of ‘crime,’ ‘pollution’ and ‘disorder.’

“I called for a vendor-free zone because the area has become overly dense with vending carts that impeded traffic and threaten public safety,” Sears said. “Many of the carts are operated illegally, and residents and small businesses have long taken issue with them.”

Opponents of the food carts want them to move away from busy streets. But if food cart vendors move, how will customers find them? And New York has been cracking down on vendors with illegal licenses with the help of the Street Vendors Project, an advocacy group for food cart vendors. Is the extra legislation really necessary?

…Sami Noor, 41, of Flushing, doesn’t buy that argument. “I have killed myself building this business,” said Noor, adding he works 11- and 12-hour days at his legal halal food cart on 73rd St. and Broadway. “Now I have to work another six years to build a business and someone will say you [must] move because you’re hurting my business?” “That’s not an option in my mind,” he said.

I couldn’t find a copy of the aforementioned essay, but I’d love to hear more about how food carts are destroying the economy from New Yorkers or any other food cart patrons. I would think food carts were an asset to the community and a testament to its diverse population, not the peril its opponents perceive. I guess that when it comes to empty cash registers, it’s easier to blame food carts than the economy.