Represent! NYC Food Trucks Form a Trade Group

They've also hired a lobbyist to assist with licensing and the right to park and sell food at metered spots.

March 25, 2011

NEW YORK - Food trucks in New York City now have a voice ?" 32 owners of the mobile venues joined to form the New York City Food Truck Association and hired the lobbying group Capalino + Co. to assist with speedier licensing and the right to park and vend at metered spots, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"We think the nature of street vending has changed and we are looking to advocate for laws that reflect those changes," David Weber, president of the group and a co-owner of the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, told the newspaper, adding, "We're trying to overcome some of the stigma that street food has."

NYC prohibits vending from metered spots, but nearly every food truck settles at one. Vendors said enforcement was spotty until recently, when police began forcing some trucks to move along. The association will also work to reduce the time it currently takes for food trucks to obtain a mobile vending license to two weeks instead of six to eight weeks.

The newspaper also notes that there are probably more than 50 food trucks operating in NYC in addition to about 200 ice-cream trucks.

Read more about food trucks in NACS Magazine: "On the Move" and "Meals on Wheels."

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