NYC Tourist Warning: Push-cart vendors.

Well, even a veteran NewYorker can screw up when he's hungry.

Here's the thing, if you guys want the New York experience of eating a hot-dog from a push-cart vendor.... go ahead!

Watch out for shish-kabob vendors though. Yes, the smell can be incredible. But unlike a "raw" hot-dog which can be eaten uncooked, a raw skewer of shish-kabob is actually raw meat. Meaning, you need to seriously watch out for cross-contamination. In a restaurant, they have gloves and running water to wash their hands. Plus, multiple employees in which one can be assigned to just handle the raw meats. Not so with push-cart vendors who quite frankly are no where nearly as regulated by the City as much as they should be.

Exiting Lexington and 63rd street subway stop to take a quick stroll to work, I saw the guy on the corner. I was hungry, that smell was amazing, so I went up to him. I'm standing there the whole time as he's preparing my food. He has a latex glove on his left hand. Pulls out a bag of raw meat on skewers. When he's done, he takes the plastic wrap the meat was in, crumples it up in his left hand, throws it away. The wrap was covered in raw meat juices. So now his gloved hand is too. I then watch a couple of minutes later as he's touching the end of my meat skewers with the same gloved hand. Then he wraps the first skewer with aluminum foil.... Putting that gloved hand all over the foil. Keep in mind, right fricking in front of me.

Which highlights one of the main problems. These vendors are often times new immigrants. Usually men from nations where traditional gender roles are still very much in tact. Meaning, their wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, etc. do all the cooking. The men don't. Much of the time, they are not trained properly and not supervised at all. They either have no clue what cross-contamination is, or they just don't care if they get their customers sick.

I'm not risking a massive case of food-poisoning. I called him out on his B.S. before he had a chance to wrap another skewer. The sad fact is, he likely just turned around and sold that contaminated meat to the next guy.

Also, watch out for hot-dog vendors who sell shish-kabob as part of their menu item. You might want a hot-dog or pretzel. But once again, no running water and plenty of handling of raw meat. Just not worth it. You can easily find dedicated hot-dog vendors in NYC. If you want shish-kabob, go to one of the plentiful restaurants we have.

Good for you for calling him out on it. Did he understand what he was doing wrong? Even if he sold that kabob to someone else, he'll probably go home and think about what you said.

We have the bacon-pepper-onion-hot dog carts that swarm around late night events. The smell is outrageous but I never buy any. I just joke about how just smelling the dogs is going to give me a heart attack.

I have a sensitive digestive tract, so I'm always on the lookout for such. IMHO food vendors with no access to running water should only handle food with tongs, one for raw meat abd one for cooked. Hands should always be sanitized from time to time as the vendor is most probably alone and handles money, one of the most bacteria laden things we encounter everyday.

Thank you for the warning. I have never thought about that, and it makes a lot of sense. I'll be sure to be careful with that in the future, and I'm glad that you didn't get sick from it.

PhotonWrangler said:

Good for you for calling him out on it. Did he understand what he was doing wrong? Even if he sold that kabob to someone else, he'll probably go home and think about what you said.

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Honestly, he acted as though he had no clue what I was talking about. Is it likely he was just pretending? Yes. Still, some actually have no clue. Also, I doubt that if he did; it would have bothered him. If he cared, he wouldn't have done it in the first place.

blah9 said:

Thank you for the warning. I have never thought about that, and it makes a lot of sense. I'll be sure to be careful with that in the future, and I'm glad that you didn't get sick from it.

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Thanks. Yeah, best way not to get sick is just.... walk away. I went up the block and got a couple of hot-dogs from a cart I've bought from before. A hot-dog cart that definitely doesn't sell raw meat products.

Unsanitory push-carts are not limited to NY. And you get why the glove was on his left hand? But NY puscarts are pretty bad. I was a little lost on the West Side and asked a hot dog vendor how to get to Carnegie Hall. He told me to practice.

Monocrom said:

Honestly, he acted as though he had no clue what I was talking about. Is it likely he was just pretending? Yes. Still, some actually have no clue. Also, I doubt that if he did; it would have bothered him. If he cared, he wouldn't have done it in the first place.

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I wonder if he really doesn't know. It is a possibility. No one cared to teach him the right way and everyone in his family probably practiced the same approach. For mobile vendors, contamination is not easy to avoid. One probable method is to season the meat before cooking, where the salts in the seasoning would prevent meat spoilage and reduce bacterial infestation. My gramps lived in the days were refrigeration was not a popular commodity. All meats are slaughtered at the traditional markets that morning, bought and consumed by the end of the day. Any leftovers were salted and hung.


There are many places in this world where the concept of pathology has not been conceptualized. Life, death, longevity were all matters under divine theory. I've visited places in China where vendors fish used water bottle containers from waste bins, fill it up with water, then resale it. Frying foods in oil that literally had not been replaced in years. Customers spat on the ground when they feel like it, wiping their hands not on paper towels but the chairs they were sitting on. Next guy coming in does basically the same thing.


When immigrants come, we often bring cultural influences. For those who is willing to learn has the ability to improve, for those who shrug it off well...we can only hope that there will not be any fatalities.

Yes, some genuinely don't know any better. (Honestly, they should.) They would if push-carts were properly regulated.

The worst offenders here in Scotland are the fast food takeaway restaurants. Not the large franchises like McDonalds or Burger King but the smaller independent ones. They have no standards and it's common practice for them to keep unsold food for the next day and the day after and so on, continually reheating it every day. Back in high school, we used to eat lunch at these places (I didn't know any better) and I recall seeing the same pie there every day for a month. I can only assume that the unlucky person who consumed it is now dead.
I once got super diarrhoea from a pizza the night before an important exam at university. I had seven slices and gave one to a friend. He also got super diarrhoea.

i've seen worst. when i worked by battery park, there is a food cart vendor that would get a plastic bag of marinated chicken from his storage bin, than instead of cutting it and putting chicken on hot plate he uses to cook it, he puts plastic bag on it, so the hot plate melts it, and chicken falls out from melted bag on the plate, i looked hard at his menu, and no item had a melted plastic bags as ingredient, but all his chicken has it. the vendor was at bever street and broadway.

alpg88 said:

i've seen worst. when i worked by battery park, there is a food cart vendor that would get a plastic bag of marinated chicken from his storage bin, than instead of cutting it and putting chicken on hot plate he uses to cook it, he puts plastic bag on it, so the hot plate melts it, and chicken falls out from melted bag on the plate, i looked hard at his menu, and no item had a melted plastic bags as ingredient, but all his chicken has it. the vendor was at bever street and broadway.

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Used to work near Battery Park a few years back. Thankfully never bought from any vendor at that particular location.

It's not just the vending carts. I was at a small deli in San Francisco. The cute food server brought my plate to me while wearing those disposable gloves. Then she went to the restroom. With the gloves on. She was still wearing gloves when she came out. I don't know if they were the same pair.

Some of them seem to think the gloves are there to protect them, not you.

Daniel

A friend watched a fast food restaurant worker come into restroom, use the facilities and start to exit without washing hands.
When he pointed out the hand washing sign the kid replied.
"Not a problem. I am not going back to work, I am on my lunch break."

What a place to live,sounds terrible with no hygiene control.Will give that city a wide berth.

inetdog said:

A friend watched a fast food restaurant worker come into restroom, use the facilities and start to exit without washing hands.
When he pointed out the hand washing sign the kid replied.
"Not a problem. I am not going back to work, I am on my lunch break."

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Fact in fiction? Sounds like Pappi leaving the restroom without washing hands and telling Jerry Seinfeld he's making a special meal just for you.

Maybe you should cook at home. We call those things "Roach Coach's",and for good reason!

inetdog said:

A friend watched a fast food restaurant worker come into restroom, use the facilities and start to exit without washing hands.
When he pointed out the hand washing sign the kid replied.
"Not a problem. I am not going back to work, I am on my lunch break."

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That kid will make himself really sick one day. Sadly he'll probably also take other innocent people with him.

gadget_lover said:

It's not just the vending carts. I was at a small deli in San Francisco. The cute food server brought my plate to me while wearing those disposable gloves. Then she went to the restroom. With the gloves on. She was still wearing gloves when she came out. I don't know if they were the same pair. Some of them seem to think the gloves are there to protect them, not you. Daniel

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I'm with this guy. It is NOT limited to New York or vending carts. I've seen similar stories everywhere. People seem to think wearing latex gloves is sanitary, but it only works if they change it after they touch dirty stuff. They rarely ever do that. I point that out to friends all the time.