A Better Food Cart

For too many years, the sidewalks lining Bryant Park on 42nd Street were plagued by the presence of poorly maintained food carts that were unattractive, cheated unknowing tourists, spewed either charcoal or gasoline fumes, and deposited grease on the sidewalk. Not only did they offer bland, often unsafe food, they were being operated in direct contradiction with Bryant Park Corporation’s right to control the sidewalk.

Last year, we found a solution to this problem. The attractive mobile food carts on the sidewalks are of a new generation. Not only do they offer a classic product that attracts customers (Nathan’s Famous hot dogs and crinkle fries) they also are eco-friendly and operate in full cooperation with Bryant Park Corporation and the City of New York.

Early last year, Bryant Park approached MOVE Systems, a Queens-based start-up that matches state-of-the-art carts with eager operators, to offer brand-name food products. The units at Bryant Park have a compact design that’s attractive to the eye, with no LED signs, oversized umbrellas, or improvised collages of food images. Furthermore, they don’t spew charcoal or gasoline fumes, as they are operated with a combination of solar power, natural gas, and electricity from the city’s own grid.

We hope this is the start of something great for the city as a whole: attractive mobile food vendors offering quality food, at sanctioned locations, creating no visual, air, or sidewalk pollution. For a more in-depth look into this, read Will Bredderman’s article in Crain’s New York Business.