Funky fruit. Icky ice cream. Putrid pretzels. Toxic tacos.
Those are among hundreds of complaints made by nauseous New York street diners who pulled their heads from the toilet long enough to dial the city’s 311 line.
More than half of the 359 complaints received between June 2011 and June 2014 came from Manhattan, where critics charge the carts operate under lax, to the point of laxative, regulations.
“It’s very loose, the enforcement,” said Daniel Biederman, president of the 34th Street Partnership. “We’ve been asking the Health Department, and Consumer Affairs, and the police to get together with regulations on appearance and cleanliness.
The complaints relay graphic details of gastric distress: Everything from projectile vomiting to stabbing stomach pains to three days of diarrhea.
They described food handlers working without gloves, workers scooping spilled spices off filthy sidewalks, a bare-chested cook with his body hair wafting onto the grill.
7 comments:
90% of these vendors are immigrants from third world countries. They know nothing about cleanliness and good hygiene let alone cooking food safely on a sidewalk.
The food cart issue has nothing to do with immigrants. This is a health and quality of life issue for our communities. The city has allowed this problem and refuses to enforce existing laws.
When you eat meat from a street cart that's been grilled for a minute, you don't know if that meat saw a refrigerator 10 minutes ago, or 10 days ago.
What is Manhattan complaining about, at least they have vending carts, in Corona it's shopping cart BBQ.
im sure the churros being sold out of a tin foil lined box sitting in a (stolen) shopping cart are perfectly safe!
How many food carts are operating on NYC streets every day? Probably hundreds, serving thousands of people each day. 360 complaints over 3 years is a pretty low number. If you think most restaurants are cleaner than food trucks, you should think again. at least you can see what's going on in the food truck.
Anon No. 1: And you arrived at that 90% figure in what way? Maybe in the past (if ever), but not with the designer food carts around now.
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