Cops descend on Columbus Circle food carts over ‘rent-a-vet’ scheme
NYC Parks Department enforcement officers were out in full force on Sunday afternoon to check the licences of food carts supposed to be run by veterans — after The Post reported that many of the outposts are actually manned by non-heroes.
As officers descended on Columbus Circle, a Post reporter observed veterans rushing out of nearby cars and over to the carts they were meant to be manning.
Under city law, only disabled veterans are granted special permits to sell grub on high-traffic sidewalks around lucrative tourist hot spots such as Museum Mile and Columbus Circle, allowing the vets to avoid a lengthy and competitive licensing process.
The vets are supposed to actually work the carts — “setting up, preparing, storing, holding and selling food,” according to city health laws — but in some cases, they rent the plum spots to non-veterans for a fee, only showing up to flash their veterans’ licenses if city inspectors come knocking.
One vendor at Columbus Circle, Armando Crescenzi, 57, told The Post he was slapped with two $1,000 tickets during the Sunday-afternoon blitz because he was using another vet’s cart.
“I got two $1,000 tickets! I’m working a cart to which I’m not a registered permittee,” Crescenzi said. “Mine is sitting in the garage. The truck is broke.”
Crescenzi, who said he’s a US Army veteran who fought in the Gulf War, was under the impression that his name didn’t need to be on the permit.
“They want our names on the carts. That’s not the law!” he said. “The permittee doesn’t have to be present to work the cart!”
But under city law, the vet issued a permit for a food cart must “operate” the cart — even if assisted by an employee.
Another vendor, Mohammed Abdul, 34, said he works the blender at a smoothies cart while his partner, disabled vet Joseph Cohen, who is the permit holder, sits in the park.
The parks cops looked over Abdul’s paperwork, but didn’t appear to ticket him.
It was unclear why the officers didn’t write him a citation, and when asked, they referred a reporter to the NYPD’s public information office — even though parks enforcement patrol officers work for the Parks Department and not the NYPD. The NYPD said it was unaware of the issue.
Over on Museum Mile, legit disabled veteran food vendors were fuming about the rent-a-vet scheme.
“I am furious!” said 71-year-old Barbara Morris. “It’s illegal and the city is allowing it. The leased veterans, it hurts the legit veterans.”
A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Health, which regulates the food carts, previously said the agency has received complaints about the scheme, but didn’t know how many.
A Parks spokeswoman said the blitz was in response to a complaint from a constituent about unauthorized vendors in the area.
Officers issued three summonses, including one because the specialized vendor permit holder wasn’t around as food was being sold.
The other two were for a cart with paperwork expired since August 2017 and for a cart that was not authorized to vend on NYC Parks property.
Additional reporting by Tamar Lapin