It's no secret that Anthony Bourdain loves street food. Hell, the man is in the middle of building a 150,000-square-foot shrine to street meat at New York’s Pier 57, and over the years shows like No Reservations and Parts Unknown have often proved that the best cuisine cannot be contained by four walls.
Earlier this year, the New York City Council proposed a bill that would more than double the amount of food vendors in the city, and squash a lucrative black market for highly sought after cart permits. You better believe Bourdain is on board.
In a recent interview with the Lift the Caps campaign—a pro-street vendor project backed by the Urban Justice Center—Bourdain explains how crucial hawkers are to a city’s cultural survival, and exactly why he supports adding more carts to the five boroughs.
“I’m Anthony Bourdain, and I absolutely support more permits for street vendors in New York City,” the chef says. "There is nothing more vital to a city, and a city’s health, than good street food, and more of it. More permits, not less.”
While New York City currently has some 3,000 vending permits in circulation, most of those slips aren't owned by the men and women who actually make your gyros and falafel. According to a recent report from Crain’s, food cart vendors are often forced to illegally lease licenses from the official permit holders. Since the number of permits is fixed at 3,000, the license owners control the underground pricing structure, at times charging $10,000 a year to an immigrant-heavy work force.
By adding an extra 5,000 permits to the pool, advocates are hoping to diminish the black market and make street vending a legal and viable business. After all, who wouldn't want 5,000 more taco trucks and halal carts in the five boroughs?
Just imagine how many more episodes Bourdain could could tape with that many food trucks in his hometown.
[via Eater New York]