NYC Hot Dog Stand License: $289,500. Per Year.

Licenses for a New York City hot dog stand can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. There are 3,100 hot dog stand licenses in New York City, and there’s a 20 year waiting list for them. The licenses, not the hot dogs.

A “Half as Interesting” video from Wendover Productions

Update:

“‘Unjust and immoral’: street vendors call on New York City to issue more permits,” Erin Durkin, The Guardian

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Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-rWi

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NYC Xmas Trees

“Each stand in the city makes do with whatever space is available, whether it’s under the F train or in the shadow of the projects. As diverse as the locations are, each Christmas tree vendor is even more unique. It’s a New York subculture that paints a diverse and ambitious picture of the New York the city struggles to be.”

— “NYC’s Incredible Christmas Tree Seller Subculture” (photo essay), Nick Stango, Gizmodo

It’s a tough racket …

“While most New Yorkers are drawn to the glitter and nostalgia of the Christmas tree business, few see it for what it is: an exacting, complex and bitterly competitive industry. Vendors wage bidding wars each year over plots of land in city-owned parks and ink deals with local shopkeepers or property owners to construct their tree stands on the busiest sidewalks.”

— “Hidden Malcontents: New York’s Christmas Tree Industry,” Adam McCauley, City Beats

Times Square

The car bomb in Times Square was discovered by street vendors Lance Orton and Duane Jackson. Suburban visitors often think of street life as a nuisance, but city dwellers know it can mean safety. Now you do, too.

 

 

The NYC Government sells replica street signs like the one pictured. Mayor Bloomberg paid us nothing to mention that.

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.