Halal Food Cart "Mafia" Threatens Kosher Competitor

"We don't want you here. We want you to have a hard time so that you…sell your cart to us."

Halal heavies 'strong-arm' vendors
By DOUG MONTERO and JEREMY OLSHAN • NY Post

Try to move in on a city food vendor's turf and there'll be halal to pay.

Newcomers to the city's food-cart wars say that when they stake a claim to a busy corner, they frequently get threatened by a loose-knit band of gyro-cooking thugs they call the "Halal Mafia."

"They had their friends park a truck in my location because they were trying to push me out," said Clive Dennis, who manages the Little Ochi Hot Spot, a Jamaican cart on Park Row downtown.

"It's like a mob thing -- these halal guys think they're the only ones who should be selling food on the street."

When the threats don't work, the veteran vendors start dialing 311 and making health-code-violation complaints, he said.

After fending them off for months, Dennis said, he prevailed, adding, "You have to stand firm with these guys."

Food vendors are licensed by the Department of Health, but there are no assigned locations, city officials said.

Olivia Cardosa, 31, said she's been losing her battle against the Halal Mafia. When she set up her Mexican truck on West 43rd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, she was attacked by a competitor, she said.

"She said we couldn't put our cart here," Cardosa said, describing the confrontation, which was captured on video and published on the Internet blog Midtown Lunch. "Then she jumped on our cart's hitch trying to prevent us from putting it on the sidewalk."

Last Monday, when Cardosa arrived at her spot, three giant planters had been moved and cemented into the sidewalk. She claims it was "the halal guys."

The landlord of the building there, the Durst Organization, agreed it was vandalism.

"Somebody moved our planters and cemented them in place, so we had to chip the cement off to  move them back," spokesman Jordan Barowitz said.

Erez Ella, who recently set up his kosher-food truck on West 46th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues -- several feet from a gyro vendor -- said he has been threatened since Day One.

"They told me they were going to bring 10 carts and block my spot," he said.

The next day, his parking garage told him, "We don't want you here. We want you to have a hard time so that you . . . sell your cart to us."

Two days later, his truck was riddled with dents.

Comments

[Dr. Dave]

Gee, not only does Jerusasalem belong to the arabs, but so does New York.

It's time to stand up to these cowardly bullies!!!

[shmuel]

Arab bastards. Completely impossible to live with.

[Yossel]

They must be learning strong arm tactics from the kashrut organizations and the late Rubashkin corporation

[FirstGenerationBavarianAmerican]

Actaully, turf wars between licensed and even unlicensed food vendors in NYC have been going on for decades. Greek hot dog vendors (think of the yellow and blue "Sabrett" unbrella), Italian sausage carts, fruit carts, all fight it out for space on the sidewlks.

Since there are no assigned locations to go with a mobile food lecense, the situation is akin to a broadcasting industry without a FCC.

[Guillermo DaGoy]

Get it on film, file civil rights suits, take their money, and then laugh in their faces. Problem solved..

[PishPosh]

Kalakalash!!!!

[R]

pish posh that made me laugh so hard...want some crab juice?

[Yakira]

I am not trying to excuse the Halal mafia or any other venders who harass other vendors for their space, but maybe this fierce competition would cease to exist if the cost of living in NYC was not so unrealistically high.

[erica]

Kosher food should be banned! HAAAAFVVVV some pickled whiting fish over salmon infused rice....I feel a case of the runs coming on. The "halal mafia" should call the smell police something smellssss BAD in Midtown I think Ezra farted some pickled fish. The Jews lived with Arabs over 5,000 years like brothers until 1948. The Jewish Zionists only know how to make money by ripping off others hence Madoff and have no remorse. How about coming up with something inventive instead of swiping others ideas, typical Jew whenever something doesn't go their way call Horwitz, Sheller, & Rosenburg. Make money off of the backs of others..THEIVES! I am not arab but they can cook a mean meal; Falafel, hummus, Kebab, Couscous...etc...Go Mafia!

[Cynthialstern]

I find it intereting that no one uses intimidation tactics against THEM. What makes them so bullet-proof that their victims cringe and take the abuse?