Results tagged “hotdogs”

Since Mayor Bloomberg was robbed of his chance to engage in Weiner Wars this election year, he's settling for the next best thing—the Wars! Yesterday on his weekly radio show, Bloomberg was asked about the recent crackdown of illegal vendors outside the Met. Since it was reported that veteran Dan Rossi was taking advantage of a 19th Century law that allowed vets to vend without paying, more veteran have been making their way to Fifth Ave, many employed by vendors who use them to beat the law and allow them to sit idly nearby. The mayor said, "They hire a vet to stand there and [he] has nothing to do with [it]. That's as much fraud [as] minority and women-owned businesses where you just hire somebody that's a minority or woman and say, 'Oh, you're the name person.'" As for Pasang Sherpa, after being evicted from his $600K lease to vend at the Met, Rossi hired him to man his stand after seeing Sherpa crying on the Met stairs. Now Sherpa simply joined in on the "rent-a-vet" system, paying disabled Leo Morris Jr. $100 a day to nap in his car near Sherpa's new cart.

The "Wiener Wars" taking place outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art may have sparked a debate over just how much money food cart vendors rake in, but one thing seemed agreed upon—Met vendor Dan Rossi was raking in the dough. Well not any more, the city says. A loophole for veterans allowed Rossi to park his cart in the high profile spot without having to (frank) foot the bill of $600k in rent paid to the city by Pasang Sherpa. But now the Vietnam Vet tells the Post that the city has declared the strip along Fifth Avenue "a street," meaning that his special privileges no longer fly there. Nonetheless Rossi tells the paper that he "would be back [today], even if it means getting arrested." He also tells them that he is the only veteran who owns his cart, but that other carts utilized the exception by hiring vets to man their stands. More concerning to us: if Rossi gets tossed, where will the recently evicted, overbidding Sherpa turn now??

In December, the backyard at quintessential Hell's Kitchen dive bar Rudy's was closed down as the ownership started building a proper fire exit to comply with safety regulations. The proper work permits were obtained, but soon bar owners' received a stop-work order, and were told that a "routine audit" of the work had begun. That was seven months ago, and they still haven't been able to make the changes. Now rumor has it that the lost revenue from the backyard has put Rudy's future in jeopardy. A New York City without Rudy's is simply unthinkable—as unthinkable as a city without CBGB, Siberia, the Cheyenne Diner, Chumley's, the Alphabet City Toy Tower, or, uh, Casbar. It's unclear how dire Rudy's status is, but let's not take any chances: bar workers have started a petition, online here, demanding that city officials from the commissioner of buildings on up to Mayor Bloomberg help expedite the stalled process so Rudy's can reopen the backyard. [L Mag via Eater]

       

Yesterday the top dogs of competitive eating faced off at the scales. Reigning champ Joey Chestnut and six-time winner Takeru Kobayashi were weighed in prior to their annual July 4th Nathan't Hot Dog showdown tomorrow. Chestnut, 25, came in at 218 lbs, to his 31-year-old competitor's 132 lbs. The two have faced off four times, with each taking home the belt twice, so this year will be a tie-breaker. Chestnut currently holds the world record, with his 2007 performance of eating 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes

That under-construction restaurant on Bergen Street in Brooklyn rumored earlier this week to be the long-awaited Shake Shack Brooklyn location will in fact open as a restaurant called Bark Hot Dogs sometime next month. At the heart of the project is a sustainable approach to fast food, featuring (you guessed it) hot dogs and condiments made in small batches from local, seasonal produce, like hot pepper relish and sweet and sour onions.

Partly in order to commemorate the city's controversial reconfiguration of Times Square into a 58,000-square-foot pedestrian plaza, the 1949 Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra 1949 Technicolor romp On the Town (pictured; more) will be screened outside for free on Monday at 12 p.m., on Broadway at 47th Street. It's also the last day of Fleet Week, and because of this—but perhaps secretly because one needs a really compelling incentive to hang out in Times Square on Memorial Day at noon on the last day of Fleet Week, traffic or not—the folks from Virgil’s Real Barbecue, who are celebrating their fifteen anniversary this year, will hand out free samples of their Memphis-style ribs directly in front of in front of Times Square Information Center (7th Ave btw. 46th and 47th). All of this will go down between noon and 2 p.m., or until the ribs run out. Also on Monday, starting at 11 a.m., Hebrew National Beef Franks will be handing out 45,000 free hot dogs (and another 30,000 coupons) on the corner on 45th and Broadway. They'll also have mustard.

Last night the 2nd episode of Top Chef New York aired, beginning with an oh-so-NY-themed Quick Fire challenge: Hot Dogs! After Padma declares that New Yorkers spend $100M a year consuming the "dish," the cheftestants were put up against the Top Dog (heh) in New York, Angelina D'Angelo (from Dominick's hot dog truck in Queens) and had 45 minutes to cook up their own recipes (which season 4 cast-off Spike says is enough time "to build a cart").

First the national debt clock runs out of placeholder digits, and now the price of two hot dogs and a drink from Gray’s Papaya—their legendary ‘Recession Special’—is increasing five whole cents short of a buck, from $3.50 to $4.45. On the subject of the price hike that he'd warned the world about last February, 72-year-old founder Nicholas Gray tells the Times, “It’s always very traumatic for me as well as the customers.”

Today the Times takes a long, hard look at Jay Dines, an upstate farmer who was banished from the city’s Greenmarkets only to get thrown out of the Brooklyn Flea as well. Inspectors from the Greenmarket – who visit vendors’ farms to verify they’re personally growing or making everything they sell at the markets – have accused Dines of making his all-beef hot dogs and bacon from animals obtained elsewhere. Dines says he’s just “trying to keep from losing the farm,” but the reporter totally catches him in a lie about his hot dogs.

If you're staying in town this weekend and still don't have plans for the 4th, it's not too late to catch the spirit of '76; there are plenty of barbecue options within the five boroughs, whatever your budget or neighborhood. All the events below take place tomorrow, July 4th, unless otherwise specified.

After last year's Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, six-time world hot-dog-eating champ Takeru Kobayashi declared: "I will definitely beat him next year." His opponent, Joey Chestnut, had won by eating 66 HDB (hot dogs and buns) to Kobayashi's 63. Despite not earning his way in to the contest as a regional qualifier, last year's loser be on hand this year in an attempt to earn back the title.

Quest for the Lost Ark (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., History Channel) Tudor Parfitt looks more like Jeremy Clarkson than Harrison Ford, but he is a real life Indiana Jones. This History Channel documentary special traces his search for the Ark of the Covenant – the same thing the fictional Indy searched for in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

If you work on the west side near 14th Street, consider your lunch plans settled: the Papaya King on 7th Ave. and 14th is giving away free hot dogs to the first 500 customers today and tomorrow. As of 11:06am, just 32 customers had taken advantage of the deal, which is part of a promotional for Unhitched, a new Farrelly brothers sitcom starring Rashida Jones, who plays Jim’s ex-girlfriend on The Office.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: missing juveniles on Shore Front Parkway in Queens, a taxi cab vs. store front in the area of 63rd St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, and a suspicious death on Ralph Ave. and Prospect Pl. in Brooklyn.
• Investigators believe that the five-year-old boy who died in a home fire after being left alone by his older brother may have inadvertently started the fire himself. Jason Guallpa died from smoke inhalation.
• It only took a few days for one of Banksy's latest New York pieces to be negated by the removal of its context.
• A desegregation order enacted in 1974 for a Brooklyn school was ordered lifted by a federal judge after it was determined to be harming minority candidates.
• Nathan's Famous hot dogs will soon be available via public vending machines.
• Police arrested 24-year-old Eric Lee of Yonkers for the shooting death of Brione Schneider outside of Stereo that led to the Chelsea nightclub's eventual closing.
• Unaware that the tank of acetylene gas (used in welding) in his trunk was leaking into the interior of his car, a Port Chester, NY native lit a cigarette while in the front seat. The resulting explosion blew off the rear end of his car and shattered the windows of a nearby apartment building. The smoker survived with a leg injury.
• Paul Ford's fishing trip/bachelor party. No one-sentence summary could possibly suffice.

Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston are putting it all on the line for Sunday's Super Bowl. After winning the awful bet from Green Bay, Bloomberg has a lot more riding on the line when the Giants face off against the Patriots this weekend. As is the custom when the playoffs roll around, the mayors of the teams participating decided on a friendly food wager. The stakes, or should we say steaks, are upped in this bet as the Vince Lombardy Trophy are on the line.

As of 8 this morning the starting points for this year's Idiotarod had already been changed twice. As with every year, the effort to dodge police and the scramble to find the most updated starting line is still underway, but the carts should be off soon...and we'll keep you updated. In the meantime, check out Team Danger Zone's ride!

The new season of the Apprentice premiered on Thursday with its celebrity (or "celebrity" - if you consider Omarosa from the Apprentice's Season 1 a celebrity) twist. The show received its best ratings in two years, winning the 9PM timeslot for viewers ages 18-49. The Donald said, "I was really happy. I wasn't expecting this."

Few have noticed, and perhaps less care, but there aren’t too many hot dog shacks or trucks left in the city. Despite the recent success of relatively fancy dogs topped with everything from kimchee puree to avocado mash, a few legendary hot dog outposts still exist in the far reaches of Brooklyn and Queens, tucked away on corners near scrap metal dealers and steel-frame towers of junked cars. These are the kinds of places where...

It appears the rumors of autumn's demise have been greatly exaggerated and you're going to have to start wearing a jacket outside after all. But the change of seasons is not without its perks; there are those hot winter drinks to look forward to, and a number of bars around town offer the perfect accompaniment for your hot toddy: a crackling fireplace. Below are some of New York's best places to chill out on a...

Fridays are bustling on 34th Street, but yesterday was a little different. Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg was spotted with billionaire developer Donald J. Trump and his three adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. What were they doing? Walking, talking, and eating hot dogs. Or at least Mayor Bloomberg was eating a hot dog - he loves hot dogs and they love him!

One could consider it a given that September 11th was not funny. One website, however, seems to make fun of the day that changed New York so much. 911wasfunny.com has jokes that aren't funny, disturbing images, and is pretty thoughtless through and through. It even has an animated image of an airplane flying into the website's logo. While it may not be too early to remove the reading of the names from the airwaves, it's certainly too early for a website that thinks 9/11 was funny. In fact, we're not sure there's ever a time when 9/11 will be funny.

Generally, when one thinks of baseball game food, the usual suspects come to mind -- hot dogs, sausage and pepper sandwiches, Cracker Jacks, maybe some nachos, complete with day-glo cheez -- but tucked away in a corner of Shea stadium lies something that puts them all to shame. Mama's of Corona is squirreled away on the third base side on the Field Level of the stadium, and those of us with the cheap seats have to follow a winding path to get there (look for signs for the "Hot Corner"). But upon arrival, deliciousness awaits. In addition to antipasti plates, Mama's offers three varieties of Italian sub, all featuring fresh mozzarella from Leo's Latticini, which shares the same ownership. Our pick for the night was the "Mama's Special," pepper ham, genoa salami, and fresh mozzarella on an Italian roll, with small side containers of roasted peppers and marinated mushrooms. We added a splash of oil and vinegar for good measure.

It's burger time! This weekend is the second annual Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. Your votes determined the burgers on the menu: the onion burger, the butter burger (pictured), and the pimento cheese burger. Six Apart will be sponsoring the event with a keg of Orlio and Gothamist/Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today will also be supplying an additional keg of beer. Tickets, which get you three burgers, are $13.50 and are available online. Don't forget to bring ID -- they're serious. There will be a tent covering seating areas for the event, which is rain or shine.

The folks at Lobstergram sent us one to try a while back. And what is a Lobstergram, you might ask? It's a package containing two live lobsters and all the basic acoutrements you'll need to cook and eat them -- you supply the pot (there's even an option to get the pot sent along as well). The box arrived one night when we got home from work, and we recruited a friend to help us with the process.

Something to distract you from today's soggy weather. One Night of Fire is a roving street party organized each year by the Danger, a group that is committed to “creating nights of indelible beauty.”

While the residual mustard stains have barely dried from last week’s extremely popular Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan’s Famous, it seems like the realm of competitive eating in NY has reached an overdue “I’m full” saturation point. So it’s only in the interest of each borough having its own event that we bring you this next story- the 4th Annual Dumpling Eating Contest, taking place on Sunday August 5th as part of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing. For all of those who watched Joey Chestnut eat 66 weenies last week and exclaimed, “Hell, I can do that,” here’s your chance: the Dumpling Eating Contest is accepting registrants until the end of the month. Dumplings used in the competition are of the chicken and vegetable variety; according to the contest’s poster, current records are “Man- 49 pcs., Woman- 33 pcs.” at the two minute mark. So, um, let’s go ladies! Sponsors for the contest include Chef One Dumplings and the Tai Pan Bakery in Flushing, whose Village Voice listing says features “innovations like “Special Taste Mixed Hot Dog.”

The hot dogs were barely digested when Takeru Kobayashi threw down the proverbial gauntlet for next year's Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. After being handed defeat by Joey Chestnut in this year's contest, Kobayashi looked at Chestnut, pointed and yelled, "I will definitely beat him next year." Chestnut broke his own world record and Kobayashi's Coney Island record yesterday by eating 66 HDB (hot dogs and buns) and brought the Mustard Belt back to the United States. Kobayashi finished with 63 HDB and wasn't disqualified despite what looked like a reversal of fortune. George Shea said, "If it were to come out of his mouth or out of his nose and fall on the table, it would have been considered a reversal of fortune." Ah ha! Liquid which clearly squirted out of Kobayashi's mouth and then through his hands does not count. The contest was so close that judges had to count the scraps left on the plates of Kobayashi and Chestnut for the final count.

It's our favorite July 4th tradition, this side of smiley-face fireworks: The Annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, held at Nathan's in Coney Island. And this year's competition is particularly tantalizing: Current champion Takeru Kobayashi has been having jaw pains, while Joey Chestnut broke the hot dog eating record, by scarfing down 59.5 at a June event. So we shall begin our liveblogging, and Jen Chung and Tien Mao will be providing other commentary during the competition from time to time.

Competitive eating powerhouses convened in front of City Hall today to be weighed in for tomorrow's Nathan's Famous July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest. Six-time winner and current mustard belt holder Takeru Kobayashi weighed in at 154 pounds while Joey Chestnut, who broke Kobayashi's hot-dog eating record by keeping down 59.5 hot dogs at an Arizona event last month, weighed in at 215 pounds.

Separately, yesterday witnessed the 5th Annual Tuttorosso Pasta Eating Contest on Little Italy's Mulberry Street. The event was woefully undercovered by the mainstream press, so what information we have is from the flickr photos of dietrich, who got frighteningly close to the gaping maws of the contestants. Experience won out, as the winner was a veteran of the four prior competitions, but the second place contestant made a breakthrough as the highest-placed contestant who shoveled pasta into his mouth with his hands.