The war between restaurants leaving their menus in buildings and the building's residents has become violent: A building super and resident of a building on 128th Street and Riverside Drive were arrested for beating up a Chinese food delivery guy over the delivery man's attempts to leave menus at the co-op. Chen Zhen Ping, who works at his parents' Chinese restaurant, Ming's Wok, says that super Naim Shala told him to leave the building, which he claims he did, but theat Shala then confronted him outside the building, where a tenant (a psychiatrist, no less) joined in beating Ping. Shala disagrees with the story, saying that Ping was told not to leave menus numerous times. Ping told Newsday he just wanted to help his parents' restaurant succeed, and the way to help do that is leave menus.
Newsday looked at the security issues with food deliveries in a city of "cooking-challenged New Yorkers" with "overstuffed kitchen drawers bursting with takeout menus." Some security guards and doormen say delivery men sneak in to slip menus under doors. Gothamist had always thought that while it's no fun to have to go downstairs to the door to pick up food delivery, sometimes it's better that way, especially when we feel guilty about long walk-ups.
One way not to need your drawers of menus: Menupages and a few weeks ago, the Museum of the Chinese in the Americas had an exhibit of old Chinese food menus. And oddly enough, the lone Chinese food delivery guy on Seinfeld was Ping, in the episodes, The Virgin, and The Visa.
