Results tagged “turfwar”

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.

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.

A 15-year-old Upper East Side resident was fatally shot after leaving a Sweet 16 party at the 133 West 90th Street in Manhattan. Maurice McIver had been shot in the groin around 1 a.m. yesterday, outside the Wise Towers housing project; a few hours later at the hospital, he "was pronounced dead from blood loss because the bullet had severed an artery in his leg."