Will Food Trucks Last in NYC?
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I’m in love with food trucks- plain and simple. I love food trucks so you can understand my concern with the disappearance of food trucks on the east coast…I’m hoping that we’re not next.
Trucks like the Urban Oasis Traveling Organic Café are forced to sell their traveling operation due to the city’s strict crackdown on food trucks.
Owners George and Elaine Karaisarides are selling their newly redone truck on Craigslist for a cool $55,000.
“There are plenty of people who are seriously questioning the viability of this business,” said David Weber, president of the 10-month-old New York City Food Truck Association.
The trendy food truck phenomenon may be hitting the skids after having awesome success in the last few years.
Some are saying the food trucks became a victim of themselves, as they became competitive with one another.
The competitors used to be the “cop-calling-brick-and- mortar” restaurants who used to be the real victims of these mobile restaurants, but now a more devastating blow to the mobile food industry is causing the trucks to suffer a slow death.
There are newly enforced and severe city regulations that are preventing food trucks from doing business in most of the commercial districts. Without prime locations, the trucks may as well be closed for business.
The city regulations are not new by any means, however earlier this year, a judge decided to enforce the regulations full force; he made certain that trucks were not allowed to vend at meter lined streets and would be forced to pay hefty fines if caught doing so.
The west coast is seeming to stay a little bit more flexible, however there are certain areas that are trying to restrict trucks from parking after the clubs and bars close. City officials such as Santa Monica, CA, want club goers to go home and residents don’t want people hanging out in the wee hours of the morning in search of nibbles and bits.
In San Francisco, California, the food truck craze is still fairly new, so they’re experiencing different uncertainties surrounding their future.
They hope to have struck a happy medium in way of their rules and regulations, such as: time limits to park, being required to notify nearby businesses when they are in the area and the trucks are also prohibited from parking within 300 feet of a business selling similar food; vendors must also adhere to all parking regulations.
