Mobile Bakery Has A Sticky Time Finding A Sweet Spot To Park In Midtown Manhattan
There's a new kid on the block — and the old folks are mad as hell.
Street Sweets is a mobile bakery that runs on bio-diesel fuel and offers free-trade coffee along with a menu of cupcakes, muffins, and create-your-own-filling croissants. But its arrival on the corner of 55th Street and Sixth Avenue has created an all-out war amongst the established eateries and various food carts/coffee vendors/building owners on that block.
First, one of the nearby restaurants hired a U-Haul truck to sit in the spot that Street Sweets had been using. Then the halal guy whined. Then there were complaints about noise, smell, pollution, etc. There was a tentative entente cordiale with an established coffee cart. And finally, the NYPD, FDNY, and a hazmat team (?!!) were called in.
Shortly after that, the Street Sweets truck was forced out of its midtown location due to an obscure parking technicality. Then, when the truck started to sell from its new spot outside MOMA, the hot dog cart mafia circled its wagons (literally), forcing Street Sweets to find yet another new location. Somehow the truck has now ended up back on 55th and Sixth.
Though no one wants to lose customers, and NYC street vendors are kind of legendary for their hard-ass tactics, the last word has to go to one of the NYPD cops called to the scene on 55th Street last week: "You don't want them to park in front of your business… you know what? Too bad. This is America!"
Pret A Manger & Bistro Milano Call Cops on New Street Sweets Truck [Midtown Lunch]
(Photo: kirinqueen)
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Comments:
Can't we all just get along?
Aww, I hoped from the picture that they were selling Dalek cakes, so I could make a joke about the other vendors EXTERMINATing them.
The thing about NYC is: a loyal customer, who is a regular with some cart or storefront, will stay loyal even in the face of upstart noobs.
A wavering customer, who will go anywhere, will go to whatever is (a) closest, (b) has what s/he is craving, and (c) doesn't seem ridiculously priced. Which means competition, which is a good thing for us consumers.
And although that truck sounds divine, when I worked in NYC my office was up on 120th and B'way by Columbia anyway, so fat lot of good it would have done me. *sniff* I don't suppose it could be persuaded to come to DC?
I heard next, the bakers will have some girl called Arnold Diaz and "report" that this guy is selling "Ten Inch Tennant" cookies, and threatened that the Doctor will have the same thing happen to him that happened to the last one. He will then be ordered by the state to undergo extraterrestrial/dimensional sensitivity training.
This is the greatest thing the Consumerist has ever posted.
Those poor poor Daleks.....
Shouldn't that be fair-trade coffee? Most companies wouldn't want to advertise their coffee as free-trade, as that would be admitting that they are paying farmers obscenely low amounts for their product.
What the hell does that chocolate chip cookie snowman alien thing turn into after baking?
I want one of those Dalek cupcake things...I don't care what they're made of!
@Etoiles: Seriously, we need one of these in DC. If it gets stuck on the bridge during rush hour maybe it can run a special on cupcakes and coffee. Call It the Road Rage Roast. Then again, the last thing a bunch of DC commuters need is caffeine.
I think I've seen this episode of The Simpsons before - pretty soon the bakery guys are going to call in Fat Tony and the hot dog guys are going to summon the yakuza. And that little guy, he's going to do something AWESOME. You don't want to miss that.
How the heck are they finding parking? And is it all day parking? Anyway, teh business owners need to call their city rep to file a bill. This will get out of hand quickly
So, this is the East Coast version of the LA Taco Truck Wars?
My wife made me those Dalek cupcakes for my birthday that year. They were awesome, and delicious.
This is weird. I thought the city regulated and assigned locations for mobile street vendors?
In any case while I can see a bakery owner being pissed off if you parked your mobile bakery near him.
But anyone else should not necessarily concerned. More vendors in the area may help drive business for you.
Think about it...I'm not thinking about getting a snack, but I'm walking down the street with my wife who is. She sees the cupcake truck and says she wants to get a cupcake. I'm not in the mood for a cupcake, but man could I go for some of that KLAU KALASH the dude around the corner is dishing out...
Mr. Klau Kalash just scored a sale that he never would have gotten had the cupcake truck not been nearby.
@Skeetz: I wanted a sticky muffin but the Mobile Bakery wasn't there.
Now I know how the Czechoslovakians felt after the Prague Spring.
@Trai_Dep: Err, for those poor souls who might not get the reference. :)
Err, in case embedded links are still broken in the comments (sigh):
www.hoekstraisameme.com
I get the bakery being pissed but hot dog vendors?
Christ I dont feel like a hot dog and say OH CUPCAKES!
I want a god damn hot dog!
Man, I wish we had mobile food thingies where I live. All we have is the ice cream truck.
"But its arrival on the corner of 55th Street and Sixth Avenue has created an all-out war amongst the established eateries and various food carts/coffee vendors/building owners on that block."
I'm from Flint Michigan, you may have heard about it, it's the city Rush Limbaugh said should be bulldozed.
Anyway, decades ago when our economy was humming, we had restaurants and street vendors selling food. The restaurants complained about the street vendors so an ordinance was passed and they had to leave.
Decades later the vendors are gone, and so are the restaurants.
My point? Don't ask for what you want, you might get it. The restaurant owners wanted to get rid of competition, and they got it. There's very little restaurant competition anymore in my town.
@Etoiles: There is a food truck (I believe it's Indian food, I can't remember) that moves about the city (mostly Dupont) and tweets its location. It's a cool idea and if DMVers get into it I'm sure other businesses will take notice.
Are you sure they're only selling cupcakes? This story reminded me of the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars [en.wikipedia.org]
@morlo: "I highly doubt street vendors would have been the salvation of Flint."
I never said they were. Learn to read.
@Newmy:
You're pooh-poohing the ICE CREAM TRUCK?!
What's wrong with you!?
I miss ice cream trucks.
By the time I hear "pop goes the weasel" they've already crused by our cul-de-sac...
*pouts*
There is a public interest law firm that devotes itself to suing to get rid these kinds of restraints on trade. Usually their cases involve some kind of government-sponsored monopoly (like the Las Vegas limo cartel, where the city gave all the licenses to one company), but not always. I could see an antitrust suit in this case, since the various carts are acting as a cartel (no pun intended). I know, I know, these are small businesses who probably dont have money for damages etc but what they are doing is illegal. Assuming one could overcome the problems of proof (showing who is in the cartel and that it is concerted behavior), the bakery could at least get an injunction.
They are always looking for good cases. www.ij.org
I was all for the truck-trade but I think it's reached a tipping point.
I feel sorry for the establishments that pay rent year-round (plus carting fees, electricity, water, inspections, etc.) just to have a truck park in front of their front door. The license for a food vendor truck or cart is far less than the overhead for a bricks and mortar establishment and isn't fair to those who make the financial commitment to a storefront.
A simple way to fix this would be to banish mobile food carts (as part of their license and punishable by the NYPD) from setting up shop 50' from a retail food establishment. This would help drive business in under-served areas (ahem, lower Houston) and protect the businesses.
Are the spots in NYC first come first served? Vendors in Toronto are assigned a spot & pay for it.
@meechybee: If the benefits of paying rent year round don't outweigh the costs, then more establishments should become mobile and B&M shops should all turn into clothing stores. Or, sit vacant, until the landlords reduce the rent to the point where B&M establishments *can* compete with mobile. If the mobile establishments offer the same quality for a lower price, then it would be anti-consumer to ban them.
And by the way, mobile establishments also pay for electricity, they just generate it from gas. And if water is needed to make a product, they pay for that too (unless they have rain collectors on their roofs). And, at least in my city, mobile food vendors are also inspected by the city.
It's back on 53rd St. today. I ran over at lunch to get a cupcake. There was no line and no threatening hot dog carts either. Everything looked delicious. The serving sizes were a little small, but that's probably so they can keep the prices low. Cupcake: $2.50.
You know, I was wondering why Colin Baker got so heavy.
Oh my god, it's "The Pushcart Wars" gone to hell...
With all this moving around they're going to have to start twittering..