500 Solar-Powered Food Carts To Hit New York Streets This Summer

Street food in New York City is about to change.

“I breathe it in, I get the fumes, I get the smell of the food,” Don Ward, a Manhattan shoe shiner who works next to a cart, told the Wall Street Journal. “I get home and my clothing smells like gas.”

This summer, Queens-based MOVE Systems plans to distribute 500 “green” vendor carts- as part of a pilot program to help vendors prepare cleaner food and reduce air pollution. They will be outfitted with solar panels and rechargeable batteries in addition to sinks, refrigerators and grills. The MRV100 Hybrids, measure roughly 5 feet wide by 10 feet long and reportedly can be adapted to serve a wide variety of cuisine.

The fleet is being paid for by a combination of donations and private funding. 100 of the carts are already earmarked for disabled veterans. There’s no immediate word, however, on how the 400 remaining carts will be distributed among the 3,000-plus permitted vendors operating in NYC. Either way, the first wave is expected to roll out by Memorial Day.

Source: Engadget