Photograph by Louis Lanzano/AP Photo

Nov. 01, 2012–The gourmet food trucks of New York City are a source of pride and ridicule. They’ve been criticized by restaurants. They’ve been ranked by Zagat’s. Some developers are creating space for them as a perk for office workers. Now some of the city’s food trucks are serving areas of New York that remain without power, and delivery trucks and take-out, too.

Gorilla Cheese was at Union Square Thursday afternoon, offering grilled cheese sandwiches and a place to charge phones. Big D’s Grub Truck, parked near New York University, was advertising a three-hour special: It would give 100 percent of its sales of grinders or rice platters to help buy food—“not tacos!!”–for those evacuated from the devastated Queens community of Broad Channel. And Wafles & Dinges was giving away free waffles and snacks at City Hill Park, courtesy of JetBlue (JBLU).

Word must have reached Hoboken, which is flooded, dark, and cold. The city posted a message on Facebook (FB)Thursday: “Have a food truck? Come to Hoboken and help us feed our community.

The return of the food trucks also caught the attention of Mark J. Perry, a professor of economics and finance at University of Michigan in Flint and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He said by email: “Perhaps we have inadvertently and unintentionally added a new flotilla/fleet/armada of national “emergency response” mobile food providers. It would seem that food trucks are perfectly situated to go to areas in need of food, and can get there often before the Red Cross or FEMA or the National Guard, especially in places where there is no power, etc. And it’s a way for food trucks to maintain their business following disasters, whereas restaurants might be shut down weeks. So it’s win-win-win.”

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-30/new-york-airports-shuttered

By Claire Moses | Hoboken Patch

Credit Claire Moses

After many months of back-and-forths, discussions and public meetings, the city passed a new food truck law on Wednesday night.

The new law includes new parking regulations, stipulates that no more than three trucks can be parked on one block and requires truck owners to install a global positioning system in their vehicles.

That last point was the reason why the four minority members decided to vote against the new law.

“I spoke to lawyers about the GPS and they all said it was fine,” Councilwoman Jennifer Giattino, who introduced the law, responded to the criticism from some of her colleagues.

The reason for the GPS, which the truck owners will have to pay for themselves, will be to make enforcement of the parking rules easier, Giattino said. And, Giattino continued, “it doesn’t allow selective enforcment.”

Owners will still have to pay a $500 registration fee as well as a $2,500 enforcment fee annually.

The GPS will only have to be used while the trucks are parked in Hoboken.

“I think this is a pretty good policy that establishes parameters around a new thriving business here in town,” said Councilman Peter Cunningham, who supported the resolution.

Under the new law, truck owners can choose between a four- or a seven-day permit. Trucks are allowed to park at a metered spot for eight hours a day—regular visitors have four hours—of which no more than six hours can be spent at one meter. The other option is for a truck to park for four hours on the non-resident side of the street.

Trucks aren’t allowed to park within 75 feet from a brick and mortar establishment with a menu.

Joe Branco, who owns two bars in town and has been opposed to the new law, said that he’d like to see truck owners pay sales tax.

“I wish the council would bring this back to subcommittee,” Branco said, saying that there are more things to talk about, such as how long a truck can be parked in town per day.

While many truck owners take issue with the new law, because of the increased cost and the GPS, Sayed “Ali” Gomah attended the meeting on Wednesday, thanking the council for passing the new law.

“I have been here for 17 years,” he said. “And I am hoping to be here for another 17.”

http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/new-food-truck-law-passes-in-hoboken#photo-8417732

Two Pitas in A Pod regulars Hoboken & Jersey City

City working on related agreement with food truck owners

The installation of multi-space meters in Hoboken won’t just change the way motorists pay for parking. When the new meters are installed, a long-ignored law that restricts parking at any meter in the city for more than two hours will now be enforced. The city says they believe that it is mainly employees of city businesses who are feeding the meters all day, and that enforcing the law will free up more parking for visitors and for customers of local businesses. The city is suggesting that people who need to park for more than two hours can take advantage of various promotions to use city garages (see sidebar).

Meanwhile, a group of food truck owners are concerned that they may be run out of town by the two-hour limit, and they are working with the city to try and implement exceptions to the rule.

Some of Hoboken’s food truck operators park in metered spaces, sometimes for the entire workday.

They also have the option of parking in any areas with permit parking, as long as they pay for a city business parking permit. In that case, they could park on one side of most city streets all day long. But some food trucks and delivery trucks like to park in certain areas, for instance, in front of their store (if they have one). Many of the heaviest traveled areas downtown have metered parking.

A city spokesperson said last week that the city is in the process of trying to work out an agreement that would ease restrictions on the vendors.

The new meters will not be installed in places where there was no metered parking before, according to city officials. As of last week, the city had installed 100 of the 140 planned multi-space meters, according to Juan Melli, the city’s communication director.

The rules

Food trucks will be ticketed if they park for more than two hours at the meter, just like everyone else, unless a new agreement is reached.

“All vehicles are expected to abide by rules established by the city code,” Melli said in an email. “During the past few months, the city has been coordinating with various stakeholders, including brick-and-mortar restaurant owners, food truck owners, and residents to develop specific regulations for mobile food vendors.”

Some business owners have complained that the food trucks take away their customers without the overhead cost of paying rent and property taxes in the city. Instead, food truck vendors pay fees for various permits, as well as hundreds of quarters per year for meters.

“The city has been monitoring feedback received from the community in the form of letters, emails, and social media, and taking all the input into consideration as we develop the legislation,” Melli said.

One food truck vendor, Sayed “Ali” Gomah, worries that the enforcement of the rule could end his livelihood if no amendment is made. His food truck, called “Ali” Food on Wheels, sells breakfast and lunch, including egg sandwiches and meatball subs.

Gomah said he has been coming to Hoboken, parking at Newark and River streets for the past 17 years, and has never had a problem.

“It wouldn’t be fair to pull the rug out from under us,” Gomah said. “I pay my permit fees, I clean the spot when it snows, and I know everybody around here. I follow the rules, and I’m just trying to protect my livelihood.”

When asked what he would do if food truck drivers were only allowed to park for two hours at meters, he said he would continue to do business here.

“I’m in it for the long haul,” Gomah said. “What choice do I have? This is how I feed my family. I don’t have any other options. I can’t take public transportation.”

Gomah travels every day from East Brunswick to his favorite parking spot.

One of Ali’s customers, Tim, who only provided his first name, said he goes to the truck for the convenience and said the prices are “generally cheaper.” Tim said he would be upset to see food truck vendors fall victim to the parking rules.

“The real issue is there’s not enough parking, period,” Tim said.

Parking and Transportation Director Ian Sacs hopes that with the enforcement of the once-ignored law, parking will be freed up along Washington Street and other commercial areas, which will make parking easier for visitors and shoppers.

The operators of the Indian Grill, parked on Sinatra Drive near Second Street, said through a translator that they haven’t received any warnings or notices about parking at a metered area all day, but had heard of the new enforcement. One employee at the Indian Grill said that he noticed many cars feeding the meters all day, parking from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sinatra Drive. The two operators of the Indian Grill did not seem worried about the new law.

When the issue was first introduced, the enforcement of the law received the backing of Michael Novak, who is the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Hoboken, since it will result in more spaces becoming available for visiting customers.

The parking ordinances in the city are passed by the City Council, and then enforced by the Hoboken Parking Utility and the Hoboken Police Department.

An amendment to the parking code, involving food trucks, is expected to go before the City Council in the near future.

Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com

SIDEBAR

Alternatives for drivers; why switch to multi-space meters?

The Parking Utility is offering motorists a merchant coupon, which is a free permit that allows employees to park in a municipal garage for a total of $5 for 12 hours, which is cheaper than feeding the meter for eight hours. However, the municipal garages are only downtown and not uptown. Sacs said earlier in the year that the city is currently trying to establish a public/private partnership with private garages uptown for space.

The new multi-space meters allow drivers to use credit, debit, and smartcards, meaning motorists will not need to always carry a pocket full of quarters when they park. Melli said that through the first few months of the meters, 40 percent of the transactions were not made with quarters.

The new meters will also provide more accountability, Melli said, providing “to-the-penny” audit reports.

That’s significant, because in 2009, millions of quarters were reported missing, which led to the indictment of the former parking director, John Corea, on charges that he conspired to steal more than $600,000 in parking meter revenue. Corea has yet to be tried almost two years after his indictment.

The meters also provide “more efficient use of on-street parking space,” Melli said.

“With multi-space meters, if several shorter vehicles park on a block, you will be able to fit an additional two or three vehicles on the same block,” he said.

The meters are also solar-powered, eliminating the city’s cost of up to $10,000 per year in batteries.

Some of the meter poles will be retrofitted as bike racks, Melli said.

As far as delivery vehicles that park on Washington Street, Sacs has said that the city is encouraging businesses to utilize bike deliveries.

By Summer Dawn Hortillosa | The Jersey Journal

Customers buy breakfast food from Food on Wheels, a food truck at River and Newark streets that was featured in a sexual harassment experiment on ABC's "What Would You Do?" photo - Summer Dawn Hortillosa/The Jersey Journal

Hoboken stepped up to the plate and defended a woman being sexually harassed on the ABC show, “What Would You Do?”

The show, which aired on Friday, conducted a social experiment at River and Newark streets, where food truck Food on Wheels is parked.

In the show’s scenario, actors playing several construction workers harassed an actress in workout clothes by speaking to her lewdly and even touching her backside.

As the actress played it “Jersey strong” by talking back to the rude men, Hobokenites didn’t hesitate to step in and back her up – even when ABC switched up the game.

To see if the actors’ appearance affected how people reacted, ABC reran the experiment several times with the actress dressed in gym clothes and later in a more provocative outfit. They also tried switching out their “construction workers” for businessmen in suits.

No matter the situation, people seemed willing to speak up.

“You know, it was very strange because they had two different situations with construction workers and with suits,” said Food on Wheels owner Ali Gomah, who was asked by ABC to be part of the experiment’s background and setting during the June taping of the episode.

“When they were construction workers, everybody stepped in – when they were in suits, hardly anybody stepped in,” said the Brunswick resident. “They were more intimidated.”

Gomah, who has been serving up hot eats from his truck in Hoboken for 17 years, said he has sometimes seen women get harassed.

“It does happen once in a while, of course. You see a look sometimes, but nothing verbal.”

Overall, he says, the Mile Square City is not a place that would tolerate such lewd behavior.

“A couple people really went after the guys and were gonna hit them, but the camera crews came out,” he laughed, adding that he really thinks all Hobokenites would’ve done something about the situation.

“It’s a small community and I believe they will step up and do the right thing in many different situations,” said Gomah.

http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2011/08/hoboken_food_truck_customers_d.html

Marci Smith-Scarano

For 34 years, Old Bridge resident Marci Smith- Scarano worked hard for the “friendly skies,” teaching customer service and escorting the rich and famous at the United Airlines Red Carpet Club at Newark Liberty International Airport.

But after over three decades meeting and greeting the likes of President Richard Nixon, Katie Couric and Sean Penn, Smith-Scarano traded in the planes for a truck.

Last November, Smith-Scarano, 59, opened Mamma Marci’s Gourmet Mobile Kitchen, which provides lunch and dinner to hungry commuters in Hoboken and the New York Waterway Belford Port in Middletown, as well as catering for everything from business luncheons to family parties. She also received a permit to operate in Old Bridge.

Smith-Scarano, a self-proclaimed “foodie,” fell in lovewith cooking after she got married in 1976.

“I just developed this interest and love of cooking,” she said. “Through good times and bad, it was always a good source of a positive response from people. You are just proud of what you do.” She is apparently good at it, too. Friends and family constantly told Smith-Scarano to open up a restaurant, but for years she shrugged off the idea.

Things changed after Sept. 11, 2001. Smith- Scarano struggled to cope with terrorist attacks and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I was there and checked people in that day, regular customers,” she said. “United Flight 93 was our flight. Friends of mine died on that.” In 2005, United Airlines declared bankruptcy, and a judge’s decision allowed the company to default on its pension plans. That and other changes at the airline led Smith-Scarano to decide it was time to move on. She accepted an offer from an early-out program three years ago and began contemplating a new career in cooking.

Smith-Scarano thought about opening a restaurant in Red Bank, but her son, Andrew Pavoni, a business professional living and working in Manhattan, had another idea.

Smith-Scarano had just recently remarried and, knowing the huge commitment involved with opening a restaurant, Pavoni told his mom to open something a little less taxing thatwas all the rage in NewYork City: a food truck.

She got a used truck and worked with a company to renovate it inside and out, with everything from four new deep fryers to an electronic menu board and even new hubcaps, all keeping with her 1950s, comforting, homey design.

“I felt that I had to overcompensate for the mind-set of a food truck being a greasy-spoon hot dog cart,” she said.

Smith-Scarano gained a permit to work in Hoboken and an exclusive contract with New York Waterway to provide dinner to hungry Wall Streeters coming back to New Jersey at Belford Port.

Knowing her potential clients, Smith- Scarano also brought the truck into the Internet Age, developing an online ordering service and even a valet service, where food can be delivered to a customer’s car.

“After all of my years with customer service, I just know that the best care you can give somebody makes the best customer,” she said .

But the focus is still the food — fresh, healthful and hearty meals cooked with love.

“I tell people it is my purpose in life to feed people,” she said.

Menus rotate, but Smith-Scarano’s specialties include her signature “Too good to be true” lasagna Marcianna, sweet and sour meatballs, and her homemade potato and macaroni salads. But by far, Smith-Scarano said her most popular dish is the “Best Chicken Cutlets in the World” — lightly breaded chicken breast topped with melted Fontina cheese and served in a white wine caper sauce over pasta.

“People call me and say, ‘My husband is craving those Best Chicken Cutlets in the World,’ ” she said. “ ‘I need some of those Best Chicken Cutlets in the World.’ ”

Smith-Scarano also has family-inspired classics, including Grandpa Smitty’s Italian Hot Dog Sandwich, complete with sautéed peppers, onions and sliced potatoes on an Italian roll, and Grandma Cecile’s Shells Smith, a baked macaroni and cheese casserole, named for her 83-year-old mother who helps cook on the truck.

The food is already winning awards. Mamma Marci’s took home the judge’s top hot dog honors at this year’s Munchmobile Hot Dog and Burger Showdown at Monmouth Park in May, as well as the People’s Choice award for best burger.

As for the future, Smith-Scarano hopes to franchise her truck and one day follow in the footsteps of her idol, Paula Deen, and appear on the Food Network.

But in the meantime, she is happy and enjoying her work with the truck.

“This is my second life,” Smith-Scarano said. “What can be better than doing something you love, having someone appreciate it and then getting paid for it?”

http://suburban.gmnews.com/news/2011-06-16/Front_Page/Old_Bridge_woman_finds_labor_of_love_on_a_truck.html

Owner Joe Glaser stands next to his desserts-only food truck, La Bella Torte, parked along Washington St. in Hoboken Sunday afternoon. photo - Kate Kowsh

‘Leave the gun, take the cannoli’ – is the message of New York-based dessert and cannoli truck owner Joe Glaser and his wife, Ann Marie. Their food truck, La Bella Torte, which serves only desserts, was parked along Washington St., between Fifth and Sixth St. on Sunday afternoon in Hoboken. “It’s a line from The Godfather,” Glaser said, of the quote painted in white letters, on the front of his food truck.

Although his cannolis are his best sellers, Glaser said his menu also includes items like biscotti, rocky road cake pops and banana Nutella cake.

One of his own concoctions, the rosemary, blood orange, olive oil cake, even won him ‘best dessert’ distinction on TLC’s Cake Boss spinoff, Next Great Baker, according to Glaser.

Glaser said he parks in various Hoboken locations 6 days per week. “I try to stay between Third [St.] and Sixth St,” he said from behind the truck’s serving counter. “It depends on where I can find parking.”

Dessert prices range from $2-$6.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011/05/cannolis_not_guns.html

The Cooking Channel will feature Vito's Lotsa Pasta truck of Hoboken, seen here during the St. Patrick's Day parade, on tonight's "Eat Street.'' Adam Robb/For The Jersey Journal

Tonight at 8 p.m. on the Cooking Channel – unless you have Cablevision, it’s on your box — the food truck documentary series “Eat Street” will feature Hoboken’s own Vito’s Lotsa Pasta truck, the hearty Italian alternative to the Mile Square City’s Taco Truck and vegan vendor Cinnamon Snail.

The truck — operated by Vito Gigante, a full-time Hoboken police detective and son-in-law of Police Chief Anthony Falco — has been serving residents since last spring, providing lunch and dinner and catering.

And, unlike it’s competition, it offers free delivery, should their profile tonight inspire you to order in.

For local trucks struggling for business and attention, Vito’s appearance last fall was fortuitous, being spotted last September on Facebook by the show’s producers. Now a year in, he’s only just joined Twitter.

But while his heart isn’t in promotion, it’s always been in cooking.

“The cooking comes from growing up in restaurants,” Gigante told us on a break from training at police headquarters earlier this afternoon.

The foodie detective grew up working the front of house of local restaurants like La Traviata in Bayonne, as well as in Hoboken and Garfield, learning the business while working through high school and college.

“I always wanted to open up a restaurant,” he said. “I guess this is a steppingstone for it.”

And while he’s looking beyond Hoboken to make that dream come true, the recipes he’s inherited from his great-grandmother are keeping the truck busy.

“It’s still a process, it’s not easy,” Gigante admits. “I’m the one who does all the running around, getting the food, the produce. It’s just me and my wife.”

For Gigante’s wife, it’s been an education not just in running a business but learning her husband’s family recipes. It wasn’t until he married, 10 years ago, that Gigante  took an interest in home cooking, specifically making his own sauces.

After developing the truck’s menu, all Gigante had to do was figure out where to park. Behind that success, there was no secret.

“I just went where all the other trucks are going,” Gigante confessed.

Vito’s Lotsa Pasta Truck is parked at First and Sinatra for lunch — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. — and  14th & Shipyard for dinner — 4 to 9 p.m. — Monday through Friday.

This Sunday, they’ll be at the third annual Hasbrouck Heights Street Fair.

http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2011/05/hoboken_food_truck_vitos_lotsa.html