Post Piles on Brooklyn Heights Hot Dog Vendor Bender

BHB pal/NY Post scribe Kate Briquelet takes Chuck Taylor’s BHB post about the hot dog vendor who dared to set up shop on Montague Terrace to a wider audience today in the tabloid’s online and print editions. (Editor’s note: The Brooklyn Eagle reports that the vendor – or any vendors – are not permitted by law in that vicinity, making his ouster less a function of calls to 311 and blog comments and more of NYC laws.  A city document cited by the paper clearly states that vendors are not permitted anywhere on Montague Street between Court and the Promenade.)

Montague Street Hot Dog Dude relishes his ephemeral moments in Brooklyn Heights. (Photo: Chuck Taylor)

NY Post: Every hot dog has its day — except in Brooklyn Heights.

Snooty weenie meanies scared off a new hot dog vendor after he’d done only a few hours of business, slamming his street meat as “disgusting food.”
The brave cart-pusher parked on Montague Street near the promenade at 10:30 a.m. last Saturday. By that afternoon, so many locals had called the cops that an officer gave him a ticket and shooed him away.
“He was a nice young man trying to make a living, but in this neighborhood everything is a protest,” said a longtime resident who watched the scene unfold from Montague Terrace.

“He said something like, ‘Well, this is life.’ He packed up his belongings and left.”
He hasn’t been back — but days later, anonymous neighborhood residents were still spewing their venom against him on the Brooklyn Heights Blog.

The piece goes on to quote many of the 60 comments made on the story here  focusing on those who went hog wild on the intrepid (or clueless?) vendor.  As of press time, no comments have been made on the Post’s story.

However what we’re really concerned about is – ahem – BHB’s close-up:

Chuck Taylor, a blog correspondent who welcomed the vendor in a controversial online post, couldn’t believe the piping hot reaction.
After all, the Heights hasn’t seen a street vendor at the end of Montague Street for years.

“People need to step back and realize nobody owns a New York City neighborhood,” said Taylor, a 12-year resident of the Heights. “It is to be shared by all who call it home and all who visit.”

“If something so minuscule as a hot dog vendor raises the ire of the neighborhood, that’s what I’d call snobbery.”

Mohamed Hmidat, who owns the permit for the cart, but doesn’t sell franks himself, said his employee will steer clear of the neighborhood.

“If they don’t want him there, they don’t want him there,” Hmidat said. “He’ll just find a new spot.”

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  • Mr. Crusty

    I’m embarrassed for Brooklyn Heights.

  • She’s Crafty

    Chuck it reflects you in a reasonable light. So no worries there.

  • SPM

    So much for objective journalism….

  • Mr. Crusty

    Yeah, how dare the Post quote us! That’s not fair at all.

  • http://loscalzo.posterous.com Homer Fink

    Blogs are existential journals. Opinions happen.

  • johnston

    “I’m embarrassed for Brooklyn Heights.”

    Me, too.

  • Scrambler

    Typical of BK Heights. Keep on spending money at crappy restaraunts on Montague and disgusting Key Foods.

  • Gerry

    had they put the cart on Columbia Heights I would not have been upset but not Montague Terrace – NIMBY!

  • Montague St. Neighbor
  • WillowSt.Neighbor

    I think it was terribly unfair to just print the negative comments as there were plenty of people here who were in favor of the hot dog stand. I myself was pretty disgusted to see that I had been quoted. Alot of what we say is in jest as my comments were. I was not in favor of the hot dog vendor in that particular location and considering the fact that a ticket was issued and he moved on, he probably wasn’t supposed to be there at all. That being said, I am not a snob and neither are most of the other residents of Brooklyn Heights. I am not ashamed of the people who posted comments here both negative and positive. I am ashamed of the person who wrote the article in the NY Post.

  • Eric

    As a long-time resident and reader, I hoped that the pinched-face NIMBYism I so frequently found on BHB was limited to a few bitter commenters. I have unfortunately seen that it extends to the real world as well, and I am extremely disappointed in my neighbors. Throwing vitriolic tantrums is simply destructive. It all makes me wonder whether I want to stay in this neighborhood.

  • Martin L

    It should be a point of genuine pride for this neighborhood to be ridiculed by the NYPost, that distinguished bastion of probing, honest journalism and standard-bearer for the highest urban values.

  • Big Dave

    My hope is that we next get quoted in the National Enquirer.

  • ColumbiaHeightster

    @Eric, be prepared for a slew of “Get out” and “Good riddance” comments. Not from me, but they’ll be coming.

    I’m glad that this was all shared via the Post. Maybe some of the absurd snobbery shared on this blog will be toned down when certain “contributors” see how ugly it is when viewed in a context beyond that of their own computer monitors. I don’t believe that most of my neighbors are snobs, but I certainly do believe that A LOT of folks on this blog are, and I for one am happy to see their awful comments shared with a larger audience. If you were disgusted or embarrassed to see your comments in the Post, maybe it’s because your comments were simply disgusting or embarrassing.

  • Mr. Crusty

    @WillowStNeighbor with all due respect can a comment like, “Disgusting food, served by disgusting people to disgusting people,” be considered anything other than pure snobbery? And ugly mean spirited snobbery at that? If I had my choice to have the hot dog vendor as my neighbor or the vile individual that wrote that I would pick the hot dog vendor every time. Not even a close call.

    The snobs of BH are really giving the neighborhood a bad reputation.

  • Mr. Crusty

    ColumbiaHeightster I agree 100%.

    You know the snobs that post on here seem to be so unhappy. They are in constant complain mode. EVERYTHING is an annoyance to them. What a shame that they are so miserable all the time.

    Take for instance the thread on the beautiful sunset on the Promenade. Rather than enjoy that some complained about running into unruly mobs drinking Colt 45’s. Really? That is the image you want to convey about the Promenade? That is an accurate representation? Let me help translate that comment for you “I saw some black people on the Promenade” Now that is more accurate isn’t it? We all “get” the Colt 45 reference.

    And then there was the individual complaining about the tourist helicopters over the East River. Do they REALLY bother you that much? Again, this is NYC where all the activity going on all the time is hardly a negative to me but rather the city’s life blood and pulse. Yes, even the sound of a distant helicopter flying over the Statue of Liberty doesn’t make me want to shake my fist and yell, “Get off my lawn”.

    But they do prohibit the helicopters from flying over the Heights right? But that is not good enough, you see…. to some Heights residents the East River belongs to them as well I guess. They can not be inconvenienced ever so slightly despite all the benefits those tourist helicopters bring to the city.

    The obnoxiousness of some people is truly astounding. If you hate non-residents using the Promenade or you hate street vendors or you hate the hustle and bustle of the big city then perhaps it is time to get the hell out. You’ll do fine as all the horrible “changes” that you are always complaining about has increased property values immensely. There are no shortage of people looking to come to BH, warts and all.
    .

  • CranberryDreams

    I’d be a bit annoyed if this blog didn’t have opinions.. that’s the whole point of a blog. I’d actually like to see more posts that take a position or a point/counterpoint. This isn’t objective journalism (if that exists anywhere), you come to blogs for the inside scoop, the small talk, the ear to the ground” discussions, and a fun, lively discourse. That said, you should do a blog entry about the police ticketing alternate-side parkers at 5:30pm on Tuesdays… pretty cutthroat i think.

  • AEB

    But of course, living in a classless society as we do, or as people keep insisting we do, there’s absolutely no neighbor-vs.neighbor snobbery to write or complain about.

    It’s a deep shame, nonetheless, that the vendor has been scared away. Some BH bloggers here should cop to what St. Augustine (never a Brooklyn resident, I believe, but still…) famously said, and I paraphrase: The high and low together is greater than the high alone.

  • Homer Fink

    To clarify –
    BHB Bloggers – the authors on the site including Homer, Chuck and Claude.

    Commenters – folks who comment on the site including AEB, She’s Crafty etc.

  • AEB

    (Thanks, Homer: I stand, sit, recline corrected.)

  • j

    Truth hurts. No doubt when these lonely posters die, they will leave all their money to their sole heirs – their pampered cats with names like “Your Majesty, the Queen.” Clearly, they don’t have any friends, family or joy in their life. Sounds like if they detest a hot dog in their mouth, I can think of a better place for them to shove it.

  • Pierpont st

    I laugh at the people complaining about the hot dog guy,the new people that moved in brooklyn heights are just new people trying to make it a exclusive place to live.leave brooklyn the way it was all you see is people looking to cry about the neighborhood .how many people living there where born in brooklyn or ny i doubt any.sad to see what brooklyn has changed to

  • Mr. Crusty

    @Pierpont St. I think you have it backwards. The most vociferous complainers are those that have been here for a long time.

    I’m curious, you say you are sad to see what Brooklyn has changed into? I think Brooklyn has gone through a remarkable positive transformation. How quickly people forget the crime, the blight, the neighborhoods where you were unsafe. You are sad to see that go? Really?

  • philica

    I personally agree with Mr. Crusty on all counts. And while I enjoy reading the different opinions on this blog, sometimes they are just downright mean and nasty. Makes me feel like some of my neighbors are not as nice as they appear. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if your opinion is repeatedly bitter and angry, maybe you aren’t as “happy” in this neighborhood as you think you are.

  • sushi

    I see the Brownstoners have taken over the thread with the Alex Cook letter shilling their blog. So interesting which BH commenters are buddies with them. I for one now walk around the Heights wondering who are the rude, obnoxious, angry, unhappy commenters from this blog. The comments on this blog have caused separation in this neighborhood community. I actually ask people if they talk on this blog because if they do I don’t want to get too friendly. Way to Go, BHB.

  • http://www.bradfarwell.com bfar

    “I actually ask people if they talk on this blog because if they do I don’t want to get too friendly.”

    You know that you just posted on this blog, right? Does this mean you’re doomed to a lifetime of self-hatred?

    It seems like it might be more sensible to base your offer of too-friendliness on whether or not they’re rude, obnoxious, and angry. As for unhappy, well, it seems like that should probably get a pass, no?

  • http://www.bradfarwell.com bfar

    (or, perhaps, one should never be ‘too friendly.’ It seems like just regular ‘friendly enough’ would suffice.)

  • BH resident conscience

    I don’t understand the uproar about this.
    The residents obviously didn’t want this vendor.
    So he went elsewhere
    Is this really a story that needs to be reported?

    Why are the opinions expressed by the locals snooty?
    If you are in the camp that street meat is gross and the selling it from aluminum carts has a certain trashy element, I don’t see why that is snooty.

    It’s simple supply and demand. Someone brought a supply to where there is no demand. So he left. Such is life

  • Gerry

    @ Mr. Crusty – it was all of NYC including Brooklyn Heights that was transformed when Rudy Gulliani was elected Mayor in the 1990s the quality of life crime initiative erradicated crime and cleaned up our streets the transformation was remarkable.

    This was one example of a politician doing what he said he would do.

    And Mayor Bloomberg has maintained the law and order here in NYC.

  • Andy

    I’m arriving a but late to this convo but I will tell you a few things as a resident of Montague Terrace: during the summer, people come from all over to enjoy the Promenade. I love that! However….they leave behind mounds of trash and don’t bother placing it in trash bins. They throw in on the ground of the Promenade or on the street. During the weekends, they come to get drunk at night. Limos arrive after 9 pm on weekends bringing in hordes of people who come to trash the neighboring streets. Drinking leads to fights and there is rarely a weekend when I don’t get woken up by rowdy and drunk people on the streets. In addition, there is always broken glass on the street after weekend so dogs owners…watch out. They park on the wrong side, read: prohibited, of the street and cars can barely get by. Their music is sooo loud until the wee hours of the night that we complain about the noise. I can go on on and on and on. So overall, I don’t mind the hot dog vendor but I do mind when visiting people come and don’t respect their environment!