Photograph courtesy of Peter Cunnigham
Gotham foodies can rest easy. The Parks Department has finally decided the fate of the wildly popular Latin-American food vendors who sell some serious eats to soccer players and fans during the warmer months.
The blog Porkchop Express reports on the latest hurdle that the Red Hook soccer field food vendors have run up against. This time it's not the parks commission but the department of health, which has some issues with the set-up:
Foremost amongst these: no running water at the fields. So today (Tuesday) at 5:15 pm, Cesar was contacted about a “big” meeting Wednesday with the Deputy Commissioner of Health. Pressure has intensified, City Officials are again flexing muscle, and the implied bottom-line is rough. Worst-case scenario, the Vendors will have to shut down operations stat to comply with DOH mandates. But we wont know anything until [Wednesday] afternoon.
The vendors at the Red Hook ball fields in Brooklyn have been granted at least a temporary reprieve in their battle to keep the concession license at the soccer fields that have brought them at least some measure of justified fame.
This means that the great Latino food we have talked about will now be served until October 28, the end of the soccer league season.
Previously the New York City Parks Department had threatened to yank the delicious food vendors' permit on September 7.
Our well-placed source, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, says that this decision can only be seen as a show of good faith on the part of the Parks Department as the two sides work amicably toward a long-term solution.
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The call came Friday morning as I was leaving the house. "Ed Levine, this is Sam Schaeffer from Senator Chuck Schumer's office. Tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. the senator is having a press conference at the Red Hook Soccer Fields to lend his support to the current food vendors. We would like you to come out and say a few words in support of these vendors."
"I'll be there,' I stammered into the phone. After all, we had posted two days before about what serious eaters could do to support the thirteen immigrant families who have been cooking delicious Latino food at the Red Hook soccer fields for the last thirty years.
I arrived at the soccer fields at 12:30. With a half-hour to kill I had time to hit two or three vendors before Senator Schumer and I, along with vendor manager Cesar Fuentes, the local state senator, and A Voce chef-partner Andrew Carmellini were to address the media. I had a pork and cheese huarache the size of my forearm. Excellent. I had a pork and cheese pupusa and ended up tallking to a Ben Benson waiter who was a Red Hook Soccer Fields regular. I was about to head over to the goat taco stand when my cell phone rang. "Ed, it's Sam Schaeffer. The press conference is about to begin." The goat tacos would have to wait.
It's at once amazing and not all that surprising that the Red Hook ball fields in Brooklyn are getting so much attention from New York City food lovers. From bloggers to anonymous activists to chefs, everyone agrees: The place is a culinary treasure and needs to be preserved.
I love that Save Soccer Tacos sprang up, complete with a sample message that it suggests sending to New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and City Councilwoman Sara M. Gonzalez, whose 38th District includes the ball fields.
I hate that the Parks Department website makes you use a black hole of a form to email Commissioner Benepe, so with a little digging, we found direct email addresses to ping him at: adrian.benepe@parks.nyc.gov
Here's some body text, based on the Save Soccer Tacos message, that you can copy and paste into your email to Commissioner Benepe. (Add you name and send as-is, or for a more effective plea, personalize it with what the ball fields mean to you.)
Dear Commissioner Benepe,
Please extend the Temporary Use Agreement to the vendors at the Red Hook ball fields. They are a unique resource in the city, are one of the best things about summer in Brooklyn, and they are irreplaceable.
The vendors bring value to Red Hook by bringing people out to eat who might otherwise not visit the neighborhood, and they create an experience and a range of real, honest food that typical park vendors could not possibly replicate.
I'm asking you to please grant them an extension for this year and to look for a way to make the use agreement permanent.
This is a cultural institution worth saving!
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME HERE
Photograph from Peter Cunningham
Josh Ozersky reports on Grub Street that the food concession contract at the Red Hook ball fields in Brooklyn are going to be put up for bidding by the city this fall and that the last day to eat the terrific grub found there will be September 7.
This, my friends, should not be allowed to happen. The Red Hook ball fields, where Latino families put up makeshift restaurants serving real, honest food of their home countries, is one of the last bastions of real food to be found in New York City. If it's replaced by a series of dirty water dog carts, a sausage-and-pepper stand, or some generic high bidder, it would be a travesty.
Serious Eats is going to start a petition to try to get the city to see the madness inherent in this misguided notion. Apparently the parks commissioner should be the object of our attention. Mr. Commissioner, you will be hearing from us.
Photograph from my friend Peter Cunningham
Pork Chop Express gets the exclusive Barbara Walters-esque sit down with Executive Director of the Red Hook Ballfield Vendors, Cesar Fuentes, who not only gives us the latest huarache and pupusa update, but also dishes on where to find the vendors during the week, and his favorite tacos in the city (outside of the Ballfields of course).
I guess we weren't the only ones with this Memorial Day weekend idea
As promised, pupusas, tacos, and huaraches made their first appearance of the season on Sunday alongside the grilled corn and fruit at the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene. The pupusa line was out of control (a 30-minute-plus wait at peak times), but for those who were paying attention, huaraches and tacos were being sold on a different side of the table and had little to no line for much of the day.
The food-related buzz about the Red Hook Ikea in Brooklyn so far has been that the cafe there will serve "unspecified New York specialties" in addition to the usual meatball fare.
But the real story is this, ladies and gents: The Red Hook vendors will now be easily accessible from Manhattan via the Ikea Ferry.
Take the New York Water Taxi–Ikea Ferry to Red Hook; the soccer taco vendors are an easy couple blocks away.
Coming this Sunday to the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene.
The much-loved Red Hook ballfield vendors are expected to start selling their delicious papusas, ceviche, and huaraches the first weekend in June, but according to Grub Street, they will be at the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene starting this coming weekend. For the next two Sundays there will only be one stand serving grilled corn and fruit, but if all goes well, the organizers of the Brooklyn Flea hope it may become a "satellite location" for the Red Hook vendors. Seeing as how we're unsure exactly how the new contract with the Parks Department will affect the ballfields this season, huarache diversification sounds like a great idea to us.
Chuck Schumer can rest easy. His Saturday afternoon stop for goat tacos, the collection of Red Hook soccer field food vendors, will continue to be a haven for food lovers for the next six years. The forces of real, honest food won this time.
I hope the good senator tries the huaraches next time he's there. For more info and a great photo taken by my friend Peter Cunningham, click here.
According to the Brooklyn Paper, two other entities have submitted bids/proposals to be the sole food supplier at the Red Hook Soccer Fields. [via Grub Street]. Come in, Chuck Schumer. Your goat taco purveyor needs you.
The future of the Red Hook Ballfields vendors is looking grim, according to the Daily News.
City officials have begun seeking bids for the popular food spot around the area's soccer fields - but the longtime vendors are worried that even if they win, they won't be able to stay. According to the bid proposal, all vendors must now use approved food-preparation carts or trucks, which vendors estimate will cost $15,000 to $30,000 per stand.
Apparently many of the existing stands won't be able to afford the additional cost even if they win the bid to stay on the fields.
Our goat taco-loving senator, Chuck Schumer, is, according to the story, on the case. C'mon, Chuck. It's crunch time. We need you. The permits for the vendors will be awarded in February. That's soon, Mr. Schumer.
Chuck Schumer, our goat taco-loving senator, announced today that the Red Hook food vendors are safe for at least this season. Good news for the vendors and good news for our stomachs and our souls.
The vendors at the Red Hook ball fields in Brooklyn have been granted at least a temporary reprieve in their battle to keep the concession license at the soccer fields that have brought them at least some measure of justified fame.
This means that the great Latino food we have talked about will now be served until October 28, the end of the soccer league season.
Previously the New York City Parks Department had threatened to yank the delicious food vendors' permit on September 7.
Our well-placed source, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, says that this decision can only be seen as a show of good faith on the part of the Parks Department as the two sides work amicably toward a long-term solution.
Related
New York Senator Chuck Schumer Makes Goat Tacos Good Politics
savesoccertacos.blogspot.com
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