Two years ago, Bloomberg rolled out the "Green Cart" plan, encouraging vendors to sell fresh fruit and vegetables in low-income areas. However, in those two years just 326 of the proposed 1,000 allowed licenses have been issued, and neither vendors nor customers seem very interested. There is also continued concern from lobbyists that fruit vendors would take business away from established grocery stores in those neighborhoods. Richard Lipsky, a lobbyist for the supermarket industry, told the Daily News, "If there was a demand for fresh fruits and vegetables in those neighborhoods, you wouldn't need to have a campaign to put these carts there."
The city originally made 1,000 permits available: 350 permits for Brooklyn, 350 for the Bronx, 150 for Manhattan, 100 for Queens, and 50 for Staten Island. Thus far, vendors have snatched up 96 permits in Manhattan, 84 in Brooklyn, 81 in the Bronx, 64 in Queens and just one in Staten Island. And, as usual, the economy may be to blame for the lack of interest. The city's food policy coordinator Ben Thomases admits, "It's a good business...you are not going to get rich doing it."
However, despite Thomases' rousing support, the city is still pushing. They'll be introducing fruit at snack carts in Central Park, and have opened the application process for vendors for the month. The city has already received 826 applications for the deadline on Friday. These new vendors could determine whether the plan is a success or if it's rolling the same way as shared cab rides.
