Halal Food Cart "Mafia" Plays Hardball to Guard Turf

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With more and more upscale food trucks crowding the scene, the turf wars keep escalating. The Department of Health doesn't assign locations, so vendors are left to work it out among themselves, are some say the gyro-cooking owners of the Halal trucks are violently threatening the competition. Clive Dennis, who operates a Jamaican cart on Park Row downtown, tells the Post, "It's like a mob thing—these halal guys think they're the only ones who should be selling food on the street." Dennis says that after he refused to cave, they called 311 to make bogus health-code-violation complaints about him. And when Olivia Cardosa tried to set up her Mexican truck El Rey del Sabor on West 43rd Street last month, a brawl erupted. (Midtown Lunch has the video.) Then last Monday Cardosa arrived to find three giant planters cemented into the sidewalk. She claims it was "the halal guys," and the landlord of the building there confirms that "somebody moved our planters and cemented them in place, so we had to chip the cement off to move them back." These guys obviously mean business—how long before that cement gets poured to make some heavy shoes?

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By John Del Signore in Food on September 8, 2009 6:00 PM

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GREGORYABUTLER

When are these yuppie vendors going to learn?

These immigrants were there first - it's their turf and disrespect them at your peril.

You've left the softcore world of office politics - now, you're on the street (literally) and you have to play by hardcore street rules.

So guys - just go back to your little cubicles and your soft little white collar world and leave the hard work of vending to immigrant working men.

IvoryJive

Is anybody else alarmed that an organized group of "loose-knit," "violently threatening", Muslim "thugs", referred to as the "Halal Mafia", is parking multiple large trucks every day on busy midtown street corners next to tall office buildings, and moving large security planters out of position? It's not a big leap to imagine something horrible.

GREGORYABUTLER

Islamophobe # 5 - with a garnish of pure craziness

blueballs

Aw, that's cute. Now go finish your broccoli, dear.

SohoTimmy

The problem is that there are too many illegal vendors on the streets. NYC is slowly becoming Calcutta.

GREGORYABUTLER

Islamophobe # 4 - with a side of generic anti immigrant racism

Wza

Bike fights, Vendor fights, ahhh NYC..gotta love it! Bro.

schadenfreudian mensch

Only in New York. Where else can you meet out street justice on bike thieves while eating your halal with tahini sauce.

etypical

I'm stunned. Observant Muslims are trying to fforce people to do things their way... nooooooo.

GREGORYABUTLER

Islamophobe # 2

jpeditor

jihadi asslicker #1 on gothamist.

nicemarmot

Right, because observant Christians definitely never do that.

jpeditor

"Right, because observant Christians definitely never do that"

Yeah, because EVERY DAY we see examples of observant NON-MUSLIMS blowing themselves and others up around the word.

/s...

ISN'T THAT RIGHT, MORON DHIMMIE?

Why don't you suck some halal food down for us in your liberal guilt. I am sure they won't put glass in your food once you tell them how much you blame "Amerika" for ruining the world.

GREGORYABUTLER

Islamophobe # 3

nicemarmot

What the hell? Halal cart guys are blowing themselves up now and I should apparently feel liberal guilt about this? And the liberal media has been keeping all these halal suicide bombers out of the news? Those BASTARDS!

jpeditor

Major fail in alinsky-101. (deflection).

Cautious Pessimist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism

jpeditor

JUST READ THE KORAN AND GOOGLE ISLAMIC TERRORISM, you useful idiot.

Cautious Pessimist

As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you.

- Deuteronomy (20:10-14)

jpeditor

Yeah, good quote from thousands of years ago, AND THEY STOPPED AFTER they killed the cannanites who were throwing their children into fire pits.

Contrast with the koran, WHICH IS THE BASIS OF CONTINUED, DAILY, MODERN ISLAMIC TERRORISM.

Utter Leftist Fails - all your base up your koranus.