The famed Red Hook Ballfield Food Vendors are back in Brooklyn after a lengthy civic battle with various city agencies. The Latin American food vendors had been a staple on the sidelines of the soccer field in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn for over twenty years, providing the mostly Latino spectators of the semi-professional soccer games and the community with fantastic food including tacos, huaraches, pupusas, ceviches, fresh fruits and fruit juices. Everything was rolling right along without a hitch…until food blogs entered the picture. Suddenly the relatively isolated Brooklyn community began to get visits from Internet enhanced chowhounds (including the author, a confirmed gentrifier in his own right) searching out authentic Latin cuisine in a far flung neighborhood of the Big Apple.

As the crowds continued to grow the vendors, almost entirely Latin American immigrants finding their own corner of the American dream around the ballfields, soon learned that success came with a price. The New York City Department of Health and Parks Department, which for years had turned a blind eye to the activities in the park, suddenly became very interested in making sure all of the vendor’s permits were in order. As most of the vendors had little understanding of the labyrinthine bureaucracy of obtaining permits in New York City this incursion by the City agencies into the ballfields looked like it could be the end of the weekend tradition as threats to shut down the food stands became the norm and a cloud seemed to hang over the vendors’ future at the park.

But bloggers and community organizers quickly got involved. Adding to that the vendors organized themselves lead by Cesar Fuentes who assumed the role of de facto advocate of the Latin Vendors of the Red Hook fields. Late in the summer of 2007 politicians joined in the fight to keep the vendors in the park, ranging from various local figures all the way up the ladder to New York’s Senior United States Senator and Brooklyn Native Charles Schumer. With all the political pressure underway, things seemed to loosen up at the Department of Health and Parks Department, which allowed the vendors to finish out their 2007 season without any changes. However the agencies still demanded a compromise from the foodsellers to bring them into compliance with city codes if they wished to re-open in 2008.

The negotiations for that compromise lasted well past the typical May opening date for the vendors in the park. But finally the tradition began anew on July 19, 2008. The blessings were mixed however. Not all the vendors returned to the park, some simply frustrated with the endless bureaucracy, others unable to put together the money the city required to bring the operation into compliance. The biggest change the city demanded were that the stands, previously set up under tents inside the perimeter of the park, would have to be changed into trucks with running water and electricity, parked on the streets around the park.

I went to the ballfields this weekend and something had changed beyond just the new trucks mandated by the city. The communal atmosphere that was previously in the park seemed to disappear, replaced with huge lines outside the park’s fences. Also the clientele of the event had changed. Whereas previously an even mix of Latin American immigrant families and foodies patronized the stands, now the crowd was mostly the Internet set. The food was still very good, but the vendors seemed confined in their tight trucks while before they had room to spread out in their tents and be a part of the event, rather than sequestered off from it. Plus the lines are now out of control. Overall I’d have to say this was not something that the government needed to come down so hard on. Certainly oversight needs to be done to assure hygiene standards etc. But the vendors had been operating in the park for a long, long time, without incident before the city agencies poked their heads in after the place started getting a little publicity. While it is nice some sort of compromise was found to keep the event alive for the public and most, but not all, of the vendors in business, in the end the middle ground came tilted too far toward the demands of the city agencies, diminishing a great summertime activity in Brooklyn. But there is a bright side to build on as well. The new permits last all year long, and community activities are in the works to draw people to the park for movie screenings and other events which have the potential of bringing more income to the vendors.

If you plan on visiting the Red Hook Ballfields some weekend this summer - and I still strongly suggest you do to find some great Latin eats - you can takepart by visiting the nearby Red Hook Community Farm to find urban grown organic produce.

LINKS:

Village Voice: Red Hook Vendors Return, Weeks Late, and Many, Many Dollars Short

Eater: The Red Hook Vendors’ Victorious Return

The Brooklyn Paper: The Red Hook Vendors Are Back!