Street Food Panel at Astor Center on Sunday, September 20

Posted by Erin Zimmer, September 15, 2009 at 1:00 PM

Street food has come a long way since 2001, when Sean Basinsky founded the Street Vendor Project as a way to provide legal representation and advocacy to immigrant vendors. It's become more tech-savvy, more PR-filled, and arguably more imaginative (a few notches above the typical chicken and white sauce). Basinsky was faced with some tough questions this year when planning the Vendys, the Academy Awards of street food, with his committee.

Should nominees be limited to carts and trucks? Any old sidewalk contraption? Should hipster tacos be lumped into the same category as kebabs? How should the Vendys reflect the identity of New York City street food?

These questions will be explored this Sunday, September 20 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Astor Center. Basinsky will join Zach Brooks of Midtown Lunch (and one of this year's Vendy judges) and our very own Ed Levine, two men who do their share of street food philosophizing. Tickets for the panel are $15, but $5 will go to the Street Vendor Project, plus there will be light snacks and prosecco, and your ticket stub doubles as a $5-off voucher to this year's Vendys. Buy tickets here »

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Tags: Astor Center, events, Sean Basinsky, street food, street vendors, Zach Brooks