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NYPD Arrests Veterans For Vending Outside The Met
By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 2, 2011
Modified Nov 2, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 2, 2011
Modified Nov 2, 2011
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The ongoing battle to sell hot dogs and other foodstuffs in the lucrative space outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art continues! Yesterday, the police arrested two Army veterans (and confiscated their carts) who have been peddling dogs by the museum's steps, claiming they were entitled to do so under a longstanding rule that allows disabled veterans to sell in some areas of the city where other vendors must pay to occupy (and in the case of the Met spots, they pay quite a lot).
The arrested veterans have been squatting with their carts outside the museum for months now, receiving summonses nearly every day from the Parks Department—not that they cared. "I don’t care if they arrest me every day—I served this country and under New York State law, I have a legal right to operate a cart here," Armando Crescenzi told the Times, before being arrested. "We have lawyers and we’re going to fight this and set a precedent for other veterans, so the city can no longer take away their right to sell."
But Crescenzi and his fellow so-called "rent a vet," Howard Dalton, didn't get much sympathy from other vendors in the area—including another vet who has been arrested himself for selling there. Dan Rossi, a Vietnam veteran who started selling outside the museum in 2007 and had his own troubles with the police in 2009, now claims the one spot outside the museum set aside for a military vet vendor and has no patience for his fellow veterans. "As illegal food vendors, those two guys got what they deserved," he told the Gray Lady.
Before being carted off with their carts, both Crescenzi and Dalton vowed they would keep coming back to the Met until the city acknowledged their right to sell there (at which point they would presumably continue to do so).
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hot dog carts
hot dog vendor
manhattan
metropolitan museum of art
rent a vet
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Garth Johnston
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