Truckin'

As Food Trucks Irk the Upper West Side, Is Their Era On the Wane?

Would Upper West Siders be happier with this?
Would Upper West Siders be happier with this? Photo: Courtesy Heinz

Zagat asserts that “food trucks going brick-and-mortar” is one of the hottest dining trends right now, and reports today of opposition to actual mobile trucks on the UWS leaves us wondering if the era of meals on wheels could be waning. Residents of West 68th Street and Broadway are particularly pissed; according to DNA Info, many see the trucks as “threatening the environment, destroying quality of life and harming local businesses.” And some snobby concerned UWS’ers don’t like the way trucks look: “We all pay a lot of money to live where we’re living and it just makes the street look horrible … we might as well give up and live in a slum,” fumed one Gladys Bourdain. We wonder if Ms. Bourdain (presumably no relation to Tony B.) would be quite as miffed if her hood were populated by nice, classy ketchup- or airline-sponsored trucks. After all, as that recent Wall Street Journal story touched on, large corporations seem to be the only ones who can score coveted mobile-vending permits anymore, anyway.

Upper West Side Latest Neighborhood To Fight Food Truck ‘Invasion’ [DNA Info]

As Food Trucks Irk the Upper West Side, Is Their Era On the Wane?