Street Carts are a part of city life. Period. I didn't move out of the suburbs of NJ to Jersey City to have to always go into a restaurant, sit down, and eat. I moved here to experience life outside the norm, which for me, includes walking around the neighborhood, perhaps with a yummy taco I got in passing.


---Signed.

I am all for competition (i know capitalism left this country long ago, circa 1935), but it must be a on level playing field if these trucks are not up to code, not being licensed properly, and so on down the list, there is no reason that they should be allowed to operate. If however they are, and stores are just bitter abt competition the brick and mortar places should suck it up.

This is a great effort, I support it.

As stated, if the carts are doing better than the stores it is because they are BETTER than the stores. Or, the stores are wayyyy overpriced. I know this was a big deal in newport when the restaurants wanted the carts/trucks banned, not realizing that they should only blame themselves, and on top of that, active neighborhoods and carts go hand-in-hand.

Saying that they're not paying liscensing fees or taxes is false. Any permitted cart/truck has gone through the red tape. If you want to go after illegal carts/trucks, this is a different matter entirely.

Quote:

They are doing something DIFFERENT than B/M restaurants: Not paying taxes, rent, not paying for liscenses, etc...

Hi

If you live in Jersey City you must have enjoyed food at one of the many Food Trucks in the area (think Lucinda's, Taste of India, John's Hot Soups, Banana Leaf and so on) - and you must've likely gone back for more!!! Or better still you might be a regular, like me!

Recently, some of these trucks have been harassed by some local restaurants which has led to the trucks being fined huge sums.

To support the Trucks and retain our choice of where we get our food from, a petition has been created online - if you feel so inclined, please sign this petition and pass it on to your friends who're in the area. We want to get as much support as possible for the Food Trucks!

http://bit.ly/ovYo6

PetitionOnline: Save the Food Trucks of Jersey City

PS: would also love to get your suggestions / bright ideas for this!



--- Text of the Petition ---

"YOUR support is IMPORTANT to save the Food-trucks in Jersey City"

LACK OF OPTIONS

The Food Trucks in Jersey City offer a very credible breakfast/lunch/dinner option to the people working and living in the neighborhood.

For me personally, after having worked in Manhattan and having enjoyed the multitude of food options out there - it hard adjusting to the scarcity of good budget-lunch-options in the Exchange Place neighborhood of Jersey City. But soon I discovered the 'Hot Soup' truck serving Soup / Chicken-over-rice for under $6 and the 'Taste of India' food truck serving a wholesome meal for $7. 'Mr Softee' would also park itself next to the trucks - giving corporate-workers an affordable dessert option. 'Banana Leaf' and a mediterranian cart followed with the same sub-$8 lunch options -- and we finally thought Jersey City was matching up to the options we had in Manhattan.

HUGE FINES BY THE POLICE / HARASSING BY LOCAL RESTAURANTS

One day while I was picking up my lunch with some colleagues, I found a police fining the food trucks. I was shocked to learn that the fines were not small - they ran into a few thousand dollars. And this was not a single stray incident -- they were fined almost everyday they stood there.

It seems that the local restaurants had felt threatened that they would lose business because of these food trucks and they had provoked the police and the City to take action against them.

Now, that only means the restaurants want to force us by limiting our options! Which for me, as a consumer, sounds ridiculous.

WHAT WE CAN DO

The food trucks are an essential part Jersey City's food landscape providing great food at affordable prices. In tough and uncertain times like these, shouldn't we have only more of these options available to us?

Please sign this petition if:
* You're a patron of the food-trucks that dot Jersey City
* You love the food they serve
* You have been affected by the random absence of these food trucks
* You want to have a CHOICE of where you get your food from

If enough people sign this, we'll make sure our voices are heard by the local administrators at the City Hall of Jersey City.