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 businessÖ you know what? Too bad. This is America!”

Pret A Manger & Bistro Milano Call Cops on New Street Sweets Truck [Midtown Lunch]
(Photo: kirinqueen)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.