Fight brewing over food carts along Second Avenue subway

Michelle Charlesworth Image
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
70th Street residents dislike food vendors
Michelle Charlesworth has the latest on the issue between residents and vendors.

UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Some people who live on Second Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan are upset about the food carts that have set up shop after the subway opened.

They don't like the foot traffic, the cooked food smells, or extra litter they say the food carts bring. They don't like people in cars pulling over to eat at the food carts.

This is not, they say, the quiet, clean neighborhood that pre-dated the Second Avenue subway.

The people who are customers of the food carts, but do not live there in general, love the food carts for the affordable food and different tastes. The food vendors have permits and are completely legal.

But the people who make a home on second Avenue now say this change is not sitting well with them. They have reached out to local officials, but so far there has been no change to the positive for their quality of life.

They say they lived through all the filth, smells and noise of the subway being built for years and are now get up every morning when they walk outside and see and smell the food carts.