Food truck owners organize amid enforcement and lower sales

On any given afternoon along Fifth Avenue, between 57th Street and 44th Street, about 12 food trucks offer different kinds of Mexican dishes, taking advantage of the foot traffic in the area. Over the last year, these small business owners have been going through changes as they try to carve out, so to speak, a space for themselves in Sunset Park, despite having spent several years in the area already.

“We want to contribute to the community,” said Jiesi López, owner of Los Toritos Pro for the past six years. “We want to be seen as part of the community. That’s what I want to achieve,” added the longtime Sunset Park resident.

However, accusations that vendors are not following rules for the use of public space have complicated that effort and have led to some food trucks being towed. In other cases, vendors have had food confiscated by the Department of Sanitation.

Amid that resistance, and a drop in sales caused by reduced working hours and the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the neighborhood, food truck owners have begun organizing to face these challenges.

López’s vision is to create a group that helps food truck owners understand the regulations so they can avoid towing or fines. For example, they have discussed the need to move their trucks after certain hours in order to comply with the two-hour parking rule.

“We started getting on the same page,” said López, who acts as the group’s coordinator. “We have to educate ourselves, we have to get organized, and we have to try to solve the problem together.”

Food trucks are a specific type of street vendor: they require generators and take up parking spaces for long stretches of time. That has become a point of conflict on an avenue where parking is limited to a maximum of two hours until 7 p.m.

Traditionally, brick-and-mortar businesses have accused food vendors of unfair competition. They have also complained that the vendors block sidewalks with tables and chairs or generate trash, concerns tied to the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District.

David Estrada, executive director of the district, said, “The BID supports clean spaces and attractive streets that make people who live, work and shop here feel comfortable.”

Some food truck owners acknowledged the complaints, explaining that some vendors have made mistakes, while also stressing their contribution to the community.

“With food trucks, there are a lot more people walking around at night,” said Aaron Negrete, owner of Tacos el Brother. “It feels safer, but they [business owners] don’t see it that way.”

Behind these positions is a larger question about balancing the economic benefits of an industry made up largely of immigrants with the negative effects on public space that some people associate with street vendors.

City Council began addressing these issues through a package of laws approved in 2026, shifting the focus from criminalization toward management and education.

For example, Local Law 53 of 2026, enacted after the Council overrode a veto by the Adams administration, creates a Division of Street Vendor Assistance within the Department of Small Business Services (SBS). According to the law, that division would be required to offer training, education and outreach programs for street vendors. Another law would add new vendor permits, more training, more enforcement agents and increased civil penalties for violations.

In the meantime, truck owners have agreed to move their trucks to Fifth Avenue around 7 p.m. in order to avoid violating the two-hour parking rule, but that change has led to lower sales.

At the same time, several owners said their sales have fallen between 40 percent and 50 percent over the last year, partly because of the presence of ICE agents in the neighborhood.

Jesús Ramírez, owner of Tacos Poblanos, said, “Our business depends on people walking by or ordering from us to pick up,” adding that the presence of ICE agents scares customers away.

A security camera video from a food truck near Fifth Avenue shows ICE agents lingering nearby and then speaking with someone. At the end of the video, the man is taken away by the agents.

The group is currently trying to meet with local organizations to find solutions to at least some of these problems.

“We understand this is a slow process,” Aaron Negrete said, “because if something gets accomplished, it’s going to take work, and it’s going to take time.”