NewsFeed

Vendors Command Big Crowds Under Clouds at Red Hook Park

The new face of Red Hook vendor cooking.
The new face of Red Hook vendor cooking. Photo: Melissa Hom


Not even a looming thunderstorm yesterday could keep away the hundreds who came to express their ardor and devotion to the Red Hook vendors. Lines snaked up and down the sidewalks of Bay and Clinton streets, as a half-dozen trucks vied for the attention of the crowd. The lines were wildly, and inexplicably, uneven: The huarache truck had a solid half-hour wait, while just a few hundred feet away two ladies selling fantastic empanadas laden with warm chopped onions, chunks of stew beef, and whole olives had no line at all. Likewise with a vendor of ice-cold seviche next door. The crowd generally agreed that the quality of the food was pretty much in line with previous years but found the experience of waiting on a sidewalk for catering trucks was nothing like the homey, ramshackle bliss of yore. This thought cast a subtle but palpable pall over the experience, comparable in its way to the clouds hovering above. More images of Sunday at Red Hook park, after the jump.

The sign you’ve been waiting to see.

Now you’re on the sidewalk, but at least the food is still great.Photo: Melissa Hom

The vendors bring New York together.Photo: Melissa Hom

Earlier: Come Meet Us Sunday at the Red Hook Ball Fields
Grub Street’s Complete Coverage of the Red Hook Vendors

Vendors Command Big Crowds Under Clouds at Red Hook Park