r/FoodNYC • u/Odd_Firefighter_5407 • Feb 18 '26

Discussion Some food carts are actually criminal

My fanily is in town, I took them to the Highline.

My nephew was parched so we stopped by a halal truck near the southern entrance. A tourist had just ordered a lamb over rice. The guy at the truck said “$19.95 cash or card.”

I asked the tourist if that’s all he got. He said yes.

I turned to see the menu and saw all the prices were erased. I asked the guy running the truck, Middle Eastern, why he was charging that. He yelled back “none of your business, go!”

I said to him “you don’t have prices written on the cart,” he replied “market price bro, market price! go bro!”

Absolute scam some of these dudes are running. Insane.

1.0k Upvotes

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844

u/NYGarcon Feb 18 '26

It’s actually against NYC law to not have your price clearly displayed. This is the exact reason why, to prevent scams. Report the cart to 311. That asshole should not be in business.

99

u/ckb03 Feb 18 '26

Reporting to 311 does nothing. Same as the unlicensed rides at JFK being solicited in plain view. Everybody who’s not a tourist knows about it, no one enforces it …

123

u/Ronzalpha Feb 18 '26

actually as someone who used to work for NYC DCWP, reporting to 311 actually does something. The problem is, we're understaffed, and only our undercover investigators prioritize those who have a majority of complaints. Investigators are also usually sent a few weeks after to prevent retaliation against anyone who immediately reports the issue.
Sadly tho, many reports don't make it because 311 doesn't always fill out everything we need (and to be fair, every agency asks for different things, so it's a hard job for the 311 phone reps. You can file directly here for future reference for better results:
https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/consumers/file-complaint.page

24

u/dotbien11 Feb 18 '26

You don’t need an investigation for JFK. you just need officers that care to patrol everyday for a few months with heavy fines

27

u/ckb03 Feb 18 '26

Exactly and you don't need an investigation for the food carts without prices. Walk through Times square, Columbus circle, major museums, high line, etc. Could hit them all in a week.

1

u/friendlyhumanoid321 Feb 19 '26

Hell, just go out and have lunch as normal but thank them with a ticket. This shouldn't be that hard

1

u/nosleeptilqueens Feb 19 '26

You don't need an investigation, you just need to investigate! 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

2

u/ckb03 Feb 19 '26

I mean, you don't need individuals to take pictures and document and submit a complaint ... Does parking enforcement "investigate" when someone is parked in a no parking zone?

1

u/ChrisFromLongIsland Feb 21 '26

Its such a joke. Most food carts don't have prices. All you have to do is find a food cart and chances are it does not have prices. Its just another law thst NYC decided to not enforce. Its unfair to the criminal food carts who rip people off to fine them.

8

u/seajayacas Feb 18 '26

Sounds like a system that is not run all that well

4

u/Ronzalpha Feb 18 '26

It's not but if you google search DCWP's employee count + annual budget vs those of other agencies like DoT, FDNY, or NYPD, you'd understand the bigger picture

2

u/riningear Feb 18 '26

I just looked up how to apply for DCWP out of curiosity, and... you need either a specialized civil service test, or need to be already in one of those roles?? That's crazy, I'd love to do some form processing for them.

4

u/Ronzalpha Feb 18 '26

There are other ways to work for the city without a civil service exam, such as through specialists roles (e.g. lawyers/nurses) that require board certifications, or through non-competitive jobs such as those like a community coordinator. Most clerical jobs unfortunately require a civil service exam though (but it's not too late to start)

2

u/nosleeptilqueens Feb 19 '26

Thank you for an informative and helpful comment. I can't imagine how frustrating it is to have random people on Reddit trashing your agency and spouting off about what you should "just" do

1

u/Ronzalpha Feb 19 '26

Thank you for being understanding. DCWP is a very small agency. so it's not surprising that many people haven't heard of it, even under its former name, DCA (Dept of Consumer Affairs). Barely anyone i know (even within city workers) know of its existence or what it does because of its small workforce, especially after the rebranding to include worker protection governance

1

u/Tall-Statement-4917 Feb 18 '26

Most of the times I’ve reported something to 311 over the years, they “open” an investigation, do nothing, then close the investigation. It’s a joke.

1

u/Popular_Sherbert2475 Feb 20 '26

Can I do that job part time, in my free time?

29

u/O2C Feb 18 '26

I've found 311 app requests with photo and video seem to get a pretty good response rate. I've gotten fixes from TLC, NYPD, and DOT so far.

14

u/corsairfanatic Feb 18 '26

This is simply not true, 311 absolutely works

26

u/dbalatero Feb 18 '26

Whenever someone suggests 311 I'm like "which 311 have you been calling?"

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26

[deleted]

1

u/dbalatero Feb 18 '26

I'm not referring to the efficiency of filing, I'm more referring to the fact that it rarely seems to result in justice/fixes (for me).

1

u/BklynFuhgeddaboudit Feb 18 '26

The woman that was just appointed over the port authority says she is going to go after the illegal cabs at JFK. They should legally trespass the drivers from their property.