The Disappearance Of Dirty-Water Dogs

‘Dirty-water dogs’ served from classic pushcarts is an irreplaceable staple of New York. But this is changing due to challenges such as shifting consumer tastes, stricter health and safety concerns, and the rise of upgraded food carts.

Wayne Sosin, the president of Worksman 800-BUY-CART, which manufactures many of the stainless-steel carts on the city’s streets explains this shifting trend:

As a pure business decision, people want to upgrade what they have because they can gross more. Larger, more elaborate carts are on the rise on the streets, while just the simple, generic hot dog cart is less and less popular.

Alternative methods of cooking the hotdogs, rather than the traditionally boiling them in hot, salty water, are gaining popularity as the city cracks down on grading restaurants and now, even food carts. A proposal giving food carts the same health-department letter grades given to restaurants is in works and gaining momentum, having received Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s official endorsement last week. Customers who want to sample alternatives are met with hotdogs cooked on the grill, or with a buttery coating, or even with water laced with hot sauce and lemon juice. From the parents who insist on wholesome, natural franks for their children in Central Park to the sit-down restaurants that serve hotdogs with unconventional toppings, the ‘dirty-water dog’ is slowly losing its street-corner dominance.

Image credit via Dave Sanders for The New York Times.