Contrasting Carts

Andrew Wolf sent us a little note about the now ignored green carts situation: "Passed this green cart near Montefiore Hospital today. Next to it a cart selling junk food. Hot dogs, chips, coke, etc. No customers at the green cart. Land office business for junk food." This is no surprise to us, since we told the city last year that its "field of schemes" peddler plan was not a great idea; and the results-not really reported with any thoroughness-bears us out.

For those of you with good memories because you do eat your veggies, the controversy last year over placing vegetable peddlers on the streets of neighborhoods where, according to the outgoing guru of good eating-Mother Tom Frieden-folks weren't getting their fruits and vegetables, was a major policy battle. The follow up?-not so much.

We now need the press-this is an election year, is it not?-to reexamine the issue because we believe it will demonstrate that the Bloomberg Nanny meddling is not only intrusive, but it wastes the tax payers money at the same time (another example of the less than frugal manager). And if we are debating a supermarket initiative that is premised on the lack of fresh produce in certain neighborhoods, than the revisiting of Frieden's fiasco is well worth the effort.