Food Vendors Worry About Being Tracked

All food trucks and carts receive permits and inspections at a garage at 5617 56th Drive, in Maspeth, Queens.

Street vendors selling everything from ice cream cones to gourmet grilled cheese will soon be getting letter grades from New York City health inspectors. The City Council passed a law last year that requires vendors to post A, B, and C inspection grades on their carts just like the city’s restaurants currently do. The measure is set to take effect later this year.

But your favorite kebab cart may be getting something more  a GPS tracker. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s proposal includes a plan to install GPS tracking devices on thousands of trucks and carts.

In the proposed rules, the health department said it otherwise can't conduct inspections in a timely manner. According to officials, inspectors currently can’t find roughly 20 percent of all vending units in the city, and the department said that could undermine the new grading system.

Some vendors are worried about how the tracking information will be used. Matthew Shapiro is the legal director for the Street Vendor Project, which is particularly concerned about immigration enforcement.

“Especially in this political climate,” Shapiro said, “folks that are already pretty vulnerable just by working in the public space, are very worried now that their locations, where they’re working, might fall into the wrong hands.”

Abdullah Insaaf works part-time in a small, silver coffee cart near Battery Park. He says the letter grades themselves could be great for business. Mobile food vendors already pass rigorous health inspections in order to get and keep their licenses to operate in New York City.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Insaaf said of the grading system. “Vendors have the opportunity to show how good we are and that we have to participate in being sanitized and cleaned like restaurants.”

But for Insaaf, forcing vendors to use GPS trackers crosses a line. “This is their personal cart so I would say that’s unconstitutional. I mean nobody would like that.” He said, “What if I put you in this situation? You wouldn’t like your car to be tracked.”

The health department took public comments on its proposal in early July and is reviewing them now. If it decides to go ahead, the letter grading and GPS installation could begin as soon as September.