My First Visit to the Red Hook Ballfield Vendors

I made my first visit to the Red Hook Ballfield Vendors of the summer this past week. I'm a little tardy in getting to them this year, I admit. Got there early and had to wrangle with no lines. Had a chorizo huaraches from the Martinez stand (above). Also, tried something new from the Carello Guatemalan stand, which has slowly become my favorite of the stands over the years, for its variety of foods, cheap prices, cheerful service and the freshness and deliciousness of its products. It was a pacaya, a tropical forest palm found in Mexico. It's deep fried and served on a tortilla like a taco, with hot sauce and onions. It's wonderful, with a distinctly fibrous texture.

Final Visit to the Red Hook Ballfield Vendors of the Season

The Red Hook Ballfield Vendors will soon end their season hawking fine food (I believe next weekend is the last). I swung by last Saturday for what will probably be my final visit until next spring. Not having indulged in a ceviche all summer, I ordered a "mixto" from the Rojas Ecuadorian stand. The, for my finale, I tried something new: a Chicharon taco from the Perez stand. Chicharon is deep fried pork skin. Very crunchy. Impossible to eat as a taco, really. Best to treat is as a tostada.

Fourth Trip of the Summer to the Red Hook Ballfield Vendors

Fried tacos from the Carrillo Guatemalan vendor. I seem to like Carrillo, don't I? What can I say? There's never a line and the food is good.

Third Trip to Red Hook Ballfield Vendors

The line for the Martinez Huaraches stand is always the longest of the Red Hook Ballfield Vendors. I suspect this is because their bill of fare is the most familiar to the uninitiated: tacos, quesadillas, etc. This past Saturday, however, I showed up at 11:30 and the queue was doable. I ordered a chicken Huarache, got a lemonades from the Vaquero Fruit Stand kitty-korner, sat down, and enjoyed.

Second Trip to the Red Hook Ballfield Vendors

Had an enchilada at the Carrillo Guatemalan vendor. Doesn't look like your usual enchilada, does it?

First Visit to the Red Hook Ballfield Vendors

I paid my first visit of the season to the Red Hook Ballfield Food Vendors yesterday—a rite of summer like few other for me. I enjoyed some chile rellenos from the Carrillo Guatemalan vendor, a lemonade from the Sosa Fruits vendor, and a beef-and-cheese papusa from the Lainez Salvadoran vendor. I liked it better when the vendors were on the field, instead of on the sidewalk, but the wonderful atmosphere is little changed. And, of course, the food remains peerless.

Some Stuff That's Interesting

The economy changes everything: Maybe the Hotel Pennsylvania won't be demolished.

A foul-mouth idget blogger defamed Dominic De Marco of Di Fara's and Grub Street defamed the blogger in return.

Rich folks can't afford for Bloomberg to lose his job.

Porkchop Express reports extensively on the changed look of the Red Hook Ballfield vendors.

Cool pictures of Staten Island's Ship Graveyard.

And, as usual, the MTA sucks.

Red Hook Vendors to Make Belated 2008 Debut This Weekend!

Funny. I was just wondering today if the Red Hook Ballfield vendors would ever open their 2009 summer season. I was just about ready to give them up for dead, the victim of the willful animosity of the City's health and parks departments.

But then Brooklyn Paper reports just in the nick of time that the Latino food sellers will return to the tray this weekend. Oh Fraptious Day! But the opening comes at a price, as the vendors have lost almost half of their regular season:

The financial costs of purchasing and retrofitting carts, combined with half a season of lost sales, have sent many vendors deep into the red.

“The losses are major,” said Marcos Lainez, who operates a Salvadoran papusa cart. “It’s going to take at least two and a half years to recover all the money we have lost.”

Lainez shelled out $35,000 to get a legal stand and upgrade it, and is rushing to get last-minute repairs made so he can pass a city inspection to start selling the bean–and–cheese filled tortillas this weekend.

The burden for other vendors is even heavier.

Pamela Martinez told The Brooklyn Paper that her father spent $45,000–$50,000 to ready his cart for Mexican treats like tacos and huaraches.

“We’re out three months of work,” Martinez said.

Like Lainez, he’s waiting for the green light from the Health Department.

Part of the delay for several of the vendors came from a Queens repairman who took many weeks longer than promised to overhaul their mobile units and bring them up to the newly tightened city requirements.

Everybody out there, do your part: Buy twice as much food as last year! Get these guys out of debt!

A Talk With Cesar Fuentes

Pork Chop Express this week published a lengthy interview with Cesar Fuentes, the spokesperson for the Red Hook Ballfield Food Vendors, which went through so much tsuris last summer at the hands of the City. The Vendors have not yet returned to the park, though it's hope their south-of-the-border delectables will be back by the end the June.

The saddest news to come out of the interview is that the vendors appearance will have been sanitized. The will operate out of city-mandated mobile food vending trucks, and the blue tents will go bye-bye. No doubt this will created a more sanitary environment. But the special flavor of the set-up will be gone. As Fuentes says, "The physical, unique aesthetic - weather beaten tarps, an old world food bazaar and unique 'mercado' feel - couldn't be kept despite our appeals for its preservation. And the operating costs for each vendor to continue selling in the park may be prohibitively high for some."

Read the entire interview here.

I'm Getting Depressed. And Hungry

This from The Brooklyn Paper:

Weekend warriors have kicked off fútbol season in Red Hook Park, but the beloved food vendors who have ringed the sidelines for decades are stuck in a morass of red tape that could keep them out of business for another month at least.

The bureaucratic snafu is a bitter irony for the vendors, who last year — for the first time ever — were required by the city to compete for the right to retain the locations they established almost 30 years ago.

The first hint of warm weather typically accompanied the arrival of both soccer and the so-called “soccer tacos” to the Red Hook fields, but the vendors are still awaiting city approval of that concession contract and high-end vending carts that are now required.

“We’re still trying to clear off all the compliant issues that need to be met,” said Cesar Fuentes, a spokesman for pan-American vendors (and a former peddler himself). “It’s what the process is. We only hope that it can speed up.”
Brooklyn Bridge Realty

Easier said than done.

The vendors’ paperwork appears misplaced in the Kafkaesque municipal bureaucracy.

Officials at the Parks Department said the vendors’ contract has cleared their review and is merely waiting for Comptroller Bill Thompson to sign off.

But Thompson’s office said it has no record of it.

Meanwhile, the purveyors of tacos, tortas and tamales need the go-ahead from the Health Department on a new fleet of mobile vending carts.

A spokesman for that agency said the vendors haven’t presented their new carts for inspection.

The city laid out these hoops for the vendors after announcing last year there would be an open bidding process for the Red Hook Park concession. The Health Department also nearly shut down the vendors, but were compelled to relent after an outpouring of support from foodies and elected officials, including Sen. Charles “Chimichanga Chuck” Schumer.

Some vendors are so worried that this season will be lost entirely that they’ve set up stands at the Brooklyn Flea, a weekly outdoor market in Fort Greene.

So I have to trudge to Fort Greene now? Well, I suppose the extra biking will work off the calories from the pupusas.

Vendor Delay

I am sad to see that the return of the beloved Red Hook Ballfield Vendors—rumored to be set for Memorial Day weekend—did not occur as, uh, rumored.

Instead, we may have to wait until mid-June. Porkchop Express reported the following, per RHBV leader Cesar Fuentes...

The good: Several vendors will be operating satellite stands at the Brooklyn Flea (market) in addition to Red Hook. Starting this Sunday (May 25th), the Vaquero, Hernandez and Soler stands will be selling elotes preparados, huaraches, pupusas, and etceteras. So get your fix here until Red Hook is up and running.

The bad: Speaking of which, Red Hook is NOT up and running. Per Cesar, “We cannot start until the city approves our permits [and these are] being processed as we speak. Unfortunately, that can still take a couple more weeks before we are given a go. Realistically speaking, we can probably expect to open Mid-June.”

The City. The freakin' City. They just have it in for these poor people.

Oh Happy Day! The Vendors Previal!

This is certainly strange timing. One day after I complained about the smoke screen the Parks Department was putting out about the Red Hook Park concessions competition, the office sent out this happy and surprising news (I'm reprinting the whole press release because, well, it's not often you want to reprint a whole press release):

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe today announced the awarding of a permit to the Food Vendors Committee of Red Hook Park, the same organization synonymous with Latin American delicacies in Red Hook. The permit is effective for a six-year term and will allow them to operate an ethnic and specialty food market in Red Hook Park, Brooklyn.

"One of the great New York City pleasures is enjoying tacos, huaraches and other fine Latin American cuisine at Red Hook Park," said Commissioner Benepe. "The Parks Department is happy to keep this longstanding tradition in place by awarding a permit to the Food Vendors Committee of Red Hook Park."

"These vendors have made the Red Hook ball fields a destination for soccer fans and foodies alike, and I applaud the Parks Department for recognizing the value they bring both to Brooklyn and the New York culinary scene," said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. "Over the past fifteen years, the vendors have been at the vanguard of the Red Hook Renaissance, and now they have another six years to continue their delectable work. I look forward to visiting the ball fields again soon and supporting this Brooklyn treasure."

"On behalf of the Red Hook food vendors, we are thrilled to be able to continue our 33-year-old tradition," said Cesar Fuentes, Executive Director of the Food Vendors Committee of Red Hook Park Inc. "We have the best intentions to create an even better food market with the assistance of New York City Parks and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. It is a beautiful thing to be able to combine culture, cuisine and recreation together to enhance the park’s experience which is so vital to an urban center. To be able to get in the city what you would get in a rural area, fresh wholesome food, is really fantastic. Thanks to New York City Parks for being proactive in supporting this type of small affair of artisan vendors.'

The Parks Department issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for food vending at Red Hook Park earlier this year. When making a determination, Parks looked at factors including planned operations, variety of cuisine, prior operating experience, fee offer and financial capacity. Any required permits or licenses from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene must be obtained separately.

In recent years, vendors have drawn New Yorkers to Red Hook Park, through selling Mexican, Central American, South American and Caribbean specialties. Originally, temporary permits were issued but as the vendors gradually became a permanent fixture, it became clear that a permanent permit was required to best comply with city concession regulations.

The Parks Department also acknowledges the efforts of Senator Schumer, Congress Member Nydia Velasquez, Borough President Marty Markowitz, Council Member Sara Gonzalez, Assembly Member Felix Ortiz, Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel and Assistant Commissioner Betsy Smith for all of their work on behalf of the vendors and the park.

I put that one phrase in bold because it just gives me pause. It reads like an back door excuse for the City to shut down the vendors anyway. The DOH has been such a Puritanical pain lately. That aside, I am overjoyed that the tacos, huaraches and other delicacies that Benepe and I so enjoy will be back again this summer. And for six years! By that time, we'll have another administration, one that doesn't bully creators of good food and urban tradition. Andre, the first ear of grilled corn slathered in cheese is on me.

P.S.—I still want to know who those masked competitors for the vendors' spot were.

Parks Department Sends Back Weasley Response

OK, back in mid-February, when I learned (through The Village Voice) that the Red Hook Ballfields food vendors would be competing for their long-held turf against "two unidentified groups [who] will also bid to run the thriving weekend food market," I sent the Parks Department an e-mail. Who were the anonymous bidders, I asked, thinking I was well within my rights as a citizen to ask.

Today, a speedy three weeks later, I got my reply. Here it is:

Dear Mr. Sheffield:

Thank you for your letter regarding the Red Hook vendors.

We cannot confirm the report in the Village Voice and confidentiality rules prohibit us from saying who responded to the RFP.

We appreciate your interest in Parks.

Sincerely,

Phil Abramson
Office of Public Affairs

That was it.

Now, I'm not playing dumb here. Would someone please explain this to me? Why should they be anonymous? Why should they wish to be anonymous? And, furthermore, why should the Park Department want to protect their anonymity? Red Hook Park is a public park, right? It belongs to the City, which is to say it belongs to the people. Maybe the people don't dictate what goes on in the park, per se—that's what elected and appointed officials are for—but isn't there a certain right to know? Shouldn't the process of running the parks be laid out in the open for all to see and comment on?

If McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts has an interest in selling its stuff in Red Hook Park, why should their interest be kept a secret from those who use the park? How, by any stretch of the imagination, is that a fair or decent way to conduct park business?

Wanting to learn more, I went to the Parks Dept. website are found this:

In 1989, the Revised City Charter established the City's Franchise and Concession Review Committee (FCRC) and required that all concessions be awarded through a public solicitation process outlined by the FCRC rules.

FCRC rules. Whazzat? So I looked it up. It stands for Franchise and Concession Review Committee. And this is what I learned about that committee:

The City grants franchises and concessions in accordance with Chapter 14 of the City Charter and the rules proscribed by the Franchise and Concession Review Committee (FCRC). Awards are made in a manner similar to the procurement process, i.e., by using RFPs or competitive sealed bids. MOCS oversees and certifies agency compliance with the applicable laws and regulations for franchises and concessions...

FCRC is comprised of six members - two appointees representing the Mayor, one representing the Law Department, one representing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), one representing the Comptroller, and one representative from each of the five Borough Presidents, who as a group cast one vote in accord with the location of the franchise or concession at issue.

To award a franchise, the FCRC must conduct a public hearing and approve the franchisee with at least five votes. Concessions, depending on their award method, may or may not require FCRC approval. Awards solicited through competitive sealed bids never require FCRC approval.

Public hearings are held for all "significant" concessions, i.e., those awarded via a method other than competitive sealed bid that either have a term of 10 years or more, or will result in projected annual income to the City of more than $100,000. Concessions awarded via sole source or any other non-competitive method require two FCRC approvals, each with at least four votes. Preliminary approval is required to allow the agency to enter into negotiations. If the concession is significant, a hearing is required. Regardless of the necessity of a hearing a vote is required to finalize the award.

The boldface lines are mine. Now, I don't pretend to understand all the legalese above, but, it would seem the Red Hook Ballfields bidding is a "competitive sealed bid" matter. Also, it is not "significant," since I've heard nothing about any kind of public hearing. So, if I get what I'm reading, the decision about who gets to vend in Red Hook Park will be made without FCRC approval, and without a hearing. The Parks Dept. can just hand it down from on high to whomever it wants.

So, the system is obviously rigged in this case. Big surprise. Still, I have a few questions. I understand the bids are sealed. But does that necessarily mean that the identity of the people who make the bids should also remain a secret? And is this competition really not "significant"?; surely the City stands to make more than $100,000 off whoever wins the right to sell in Red Hook Park.

Before I am accused of being hopelessly naive about the governmental process concerning public parks, let me just say I am no Robert Moses; I don't know how to decipher opaque government language in the wink of an eye. I am aware I may not be fully grasping the meaning behind all this verbiage. If so, please speak up; I welcome anyone out there to explain how this whole bidding system works. But I will be very surprised if anyone gives me an explanation that justifies the bidders for Red Hook Park's need to hide behind masks.

Red Hooks Vendors Challenged by Cowardly Anonymous Weasels

What the hell it this?

According to the Brooklyn Paper, the Red Hook Ballfield vendors met at Red Hook Park with members of the Parks Department for a "tour for prospective bidders," to make their intention that they want to return to their longstanding location next summer clear. They were the only ones there. But that doesn't mean they don't have competition! There are already "two unidentified groups [who] will also bid to run the thriving weekend food market."

I'm sorry, what? They're anonymous? This is OK, that the bidders can be secretive, back room entities vying for use of a public park, while the vendors expose themselves to every sling and arrow? It's OK that the other bidders don't even do the vendors and the Parks Dept. the courtesy of showing up? That smacks of rank arrogance and an assurance that they will win this (very expensive) battle.

The Parks Department has behaved like utter and complete scum in this whole affair. It's so patently clear that they never intended to give the vendors a fair shake and some deal was made with a large food concern way before the whole process began. I say, if anyone other than the vendors wins the bid, the boycott begins here.

And there's the sad fact that one vendor will definitely not return. "Victor Rojas, the ceviche man whose stand was usually the furthest west on Bay Street," wrote the Voice, "has decided to bow out already because of financial concerns." He was one of the best.

Trying to Play Ball

Just as I was thinking it was time to hear something from the Red Hook Ballfield Food Vendors, the Daily News prints a program report. And, little surprise, the news ain't that good.

According to the daily, City officials have begun seeking bids for selling food in Red Hook Park, just as they said they would. And they are welcoming a bid from the vendors, just as they said they would. But the bid rules apparently require that all applicants "use approved food-preparation carts or trucks, which vendors estimate will cost $15,000 to $30,000 per stand"—which is not quite what the City said they would do.

Anyone who's been to the park knows that conventional food-selling trucks and carts won't cut it for the specialized Latin sellers, many of whom who use long grills to prepare their tacos, papusas and huaraches. As one vendor said, "We're not just boiling hotdogs." The vendors also fear that the silvery vehicles will take away from the the rustic charm of the scene, which no doubt they probably would.

Applications are due Feb. 22.

The only encouraging thing in the article is a comment from the vendors' most high-powered friend, Sen. Charles Schumer, who last summer held a press conference in Red Hook Park. He said, "The city must work with the vendors to create a plan that benefits everyone involved, not just the city's bottom line." Nice sentiment, but, unfortunately, the past has shown that the Parks Dept.'s Adrian Benepe doesn't really give a damn what Schumer thinks. And certainly Mike "I like Subway-I eat Cheeze-Its" Bloomberg isn't paying attention.

So Long Red Hook Vendors; See Ya Next Year?

It was with some hesitation that I left town this past weekend, because I knew it was the final hurrah this summer for the Red Hook Ballfield food vendors, whose fate still hangs in the balance, waiting the thumbs up or thumbs down from both the Parks Department and the Department of Health.

I was glad to hear, however, that people took full advantage of the finale, with lines for the tents reaching record proportions. The pupusa and huarache lines were longest. (They always were.) Regroup, my friends. Don't give up. We want you back.

Red Hook Vendors Golden Through October

The Red Hook Ballfields Food Vendors have succeeded in having their selling permit extended to Oct. 28, City Room reports. Which basically means the rotten, thieving, snake-in-the-grass, prevaricating Parks Department simply came through on what they had promised in the first damn place.

One small victory at a time. Now to make sure the vendors return next year.

Goodbye Summer Joys—Some Maybe Forever

Labor Day weekend felt rather mournful to me, perhaps because it marks the last hurrah for some of Brooklyn's summertime joys—a few of them perhaps never to return. On Sunday, I biked through Red Hook Park, picked up some shrimp ceviche from the Ochoa Guatemalan stand, and sat on a park bench eating the tangy concoction, wondering if the vendors would be there next weekend. (The Parks Department, weasels that they are, recently revoked an earlier promise to let the vendors stay through October.)

Monday, I cruised by the Floating Lady Pool of Furman Street in Brooklyn Heights. The picturesque pool, with its air of isolation and view of Manhattan, has been a resounding success. It will be back next summer, but on a different shore in a different borough.

I tried to get down to Coney Island (I failed, alas), knowing that, after Labor Day, Astroland goes to an only-weekend schedule for the rest of the season. No more weekdays, perhaps for good, since Joe Sitt and Thor have bought the amusement park and are putting it out to pasture. There has been talk about moving it kit and kaboodle to another plot of land. I wouldn't hold my breath.

More Depressing News About Red Hook Food Vendors

Reason it out however you like. You won't convince me. This last report of the Department of Health's behavior regarding the hapless, increasingly hopeless Red Hook Ballfield Food Vendors confirmed my growing belief that the City isn't out of to enforce health laws or make sure there's an even playing fields where park concessions are concerned. No, the DOH and the Parks Department have painted a target of the collective back of these Latino vendors. They want them out. This, my friends, is not bureaucracy. This is a hit.

Think I'm irrational? Well, read this piece in the Brooklyn Eagle (brought to my attention by Gowanus Lounge) and then talk to me. If I had a hundred thou, I'd hand it over the Cesar Fuentes, exec director of the Vendors, so he could buy the countless things the DOH are insisting the foodsellers buy, plus extra money to hire a lawyer and a publicist to sue the City's ass for harassment.

P.S.—As for the much-discussed need for running water and portable sinks, I was there today and spied at least four of them. They're plastic, they're ugly, they're there. Choke on 'em, DOH.

City Tells Red Hook Vendors to Do This, Do That

The City health inspectors are done with their drawn-out inspections of the beleaguered, harassed Red Hook Ballfield food vendors, who can't catch a fucking break from City Hall these days. And there's good news and bad news, according to a report on Gowanus Lounge.

Cesar Fuentes, who heads the Red Hook Vendors Committee and negotiates with the city, sent out a state-of-the-vendors update, saying the City is willing to let the vendors stay through the season. But the sellers still have to jump through several dozen flaming hoops. Fuentes writes:

DOH inspectors have been assigned to come down and observe our operation every weekend since these meetings took place. They have done so religiously, inspecting every stand and making on-the-spot corrections (about food prep. & handling) to each vendor as needed. A temptative agreement was reached between DOH and our committee, by which DOH would allow our operation to continue until the end of the season, provided all vendors(and their assistants) take a 2-day, 8 hour food protection course and be in compliance of the critical issues mentioned above. All vendors & assistants committed their time and effort to attending this course, which was set for 8/20 & 8/21. I am proud to report 60+ people attended & passed the required test.

And further on:

In complying with DOH regulations, these artisan vendors are now faced with the difficult task of adapting tradition in order to meet these standards. While some of these regulations are common sense and easy to comply, such as licenses & permits, some others--such as a possible requirement of heavy mobile equipment or push-carts for each vendor, or the provision of permanent running water--will be more difficult as it may require major capital investment that the vendors or our committee cannot afford. In addition, and provided we are successful in winning the Parks permit which would grant us right to operate our affair for seasons to come, DOH won't allow our affair in its current form and without every vendor and their assistants being fully licensed.

The running water thing bugs me. What hot dog or falafel vendor in NYC has running water? Why are the Red Hook vendors held to a different standard? This whole affair stinks. It has from the start.