You knew that the heated competition between street food vendors is getting increasingly acrimonious, but did you know that it's tearing families apart? Over the weekend, a Midtown Lunch reader spotted this sign on 45th Street advertising newcomer Fahima Halal Food, which is declaring its food to be Halal-of-a-lot-better than nearby vendor Kwik Meal. more ›

The turf war between between rival food vendors got bloody Wednesday when a halal chicken vendor allegedly cut his rival's arm on East 37th Street. We've previously heard about the feared "Halal Mafia" and wondered how far they'd go in defending their turf. All the way, it seems: Walid Osman, 32, says Halal chicken vendor Mohamed Hanafi threatened to kill him. The trouble started in August, when Osman, who'd previously peddled hot dogs, started selling chicken. When he refused to stop, Hanafi moved his cart right up in Osman's face, where he started selling chicken for half what Osman was charging. The tension finally boiled over Wednesday, when a Hanafi employee, Farajat Yehia, allegedly slashed Osman across the arm with a butcher knife. That employee and Hanafi's business partner were charged with assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. But Hanafi tells the Post that Osman used to work for him and signed an agreement that he would never run a chicken cart. He also says Osman cut himself. Osman, who was treated at the scene, insists he signed the agreement under duress. He's vowed to return to his spot today and keep fucking with that chicken guy. more ›

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? more ›