In New York City the person needs a license and the cart or truck needs a permit. Permits are capped by law, which is why the waiting list, not the equipment, is usually the bottleneck.
Apply Now →The NYC Health Department defines a mobile food vending unit as a cart or truck used to store, prepare, display, serve or sell food to be eaten somewhere other than on the unit, indoors or outdoors, on public, private or restricted space. Two separate credentials apply:
| Permit | Where / when | How you get one |
|---|---|---|
| Full-term citywide, incl. citywide for U.S. veterans and people with disabilities | All five boroughs, year-round, two-year term | Requires a supervisory license |
| Full-term non-Manhattan | Every borough except Manhattan, year-round | Requires a supervisory license |
| Borough-specific | One of Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island | Capped |
| Green cart | Fruit, vegetables, plain nuts and water in certain neighborhoods | Waiting list |
| Seasonal (temporary) citywide | April 1 to October 31 each year | Waiting list |
| Restricted area | Private property or Parks property under an agreement with the owner; not the sidewalk or street | No waiting list and no cap |
Permits are valid for up to two years. The Department mails a renewal form to the address of record three months before expiration, which is one reason it insists vendors keep their mailing and email addresses current.
Local Law 18 of 2021 created the supervisory license. It is issued only to an individual and lets that person apply for one full-term permit, citywide or non-Manhattan depending on the license. A unit operating under a supervisory license permit must have a supervisory license holder working on-site whenever it operates: a citywide holder in Manhattan, and a citywide or non-Manhattan holder elsewhere.
The Health Department's vendor guide says the initial supervisory license is issued at no cost and carries the same expiration date as your vendor license; renewing it for two years costs $438. When your waiting list number comes up, you get an application by mail and have 90 days to submit it. If you already hold a permit and move to a supervisory license permit, you have 270 days or until your current permit expires, whichever comes first, to turn in the old one.
Local Laws 54 and 59 of 2026 require the Health Department to issue 2,200 additional supervisory license applications each year from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2031: 500 citywide, 1,500 non-Manhattan, and 200 citywide for people with disabilities and U.S. veterans. The Department describes the overall effect as 11,000 more permits. Applications go first to people on the waiting lists created in 2022; new lists open once those are exhausted.
Three supervisory license lists exist: citywide, non-Manhattan, and citywide for veterans and people with disabilities. That last list reopened in 2026 for the first time since the program launched in 2023, with priority to U.S. veterans with disabilities, then non-veterans with disabilities, then veterans without disabilities. You can check your position with the Department's Waiting List Lookup tool. If you do not hold a vendor license yet, the Department offers a sign-up for notifications.
The waiting list sets the calendar, so the spend tends to cluster. For illustration only: once a permit application is in hand, an operator may need to buy or refit a truck, set up a commissary arrangement (the Department publishes a commissary agreement form), pass the pre-permit inspection and stock inventory, all before the first sale. Seasonal permit holders face the reverse problem: revenue concentrated between April and October, with insurance, storage and loan payments running all year.
Once a vending business is operating and has deposits running through a business account, working capital can smooth those gaps. We fund $25,000 to $5,000,000 in as little as 24 hours, looking at about three months of business bank statements rather than tax returns. FICO 500+ is considered and sole proprietors can apply. Start the 5-minute application.
Not a new one. The Health Department says new full-term citywide and non-Manhattan permits, including the veterans and disability citywide permit, are available only to supervisory license holders.
No. The Department says there is no limit on vendor licenses, though each person can hold only one. The cap applies to permits for the units.
The restricted area permit, for vending on private property or Parks property under an agreement with the owner. It does not allow vending on public sidewalks or streets, and the Department says there is no limit on how many are issued.
Per the Health Department's guide, the initial issuance is free and a two-year renewal costs $438.
Under Local Laws 54 and 59 of 2026, 2,200 supervisory license applications a year from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031.
Three months of business bank statements and a 5-minute application. FICO 500+ considered. $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours.
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