"I think it's a combination of a number of things coming together at once- almost like a perfect storm. The bad economy plus the good publicity new mobile vendors automatically get from blogs and the media mean there are a ton more trucks hitting the streets. More trucks mean more incidents between brick and mortar businesses and vendors, and between vendors and vendors. So the visibility is at an all time high. In the end, it's like what happened with the Red Hook Ball Field vendors. The more popular you get, and the more the mainstream media writes about you, it's only a matter of time before somebody who works for the city says "Shouldn't we be making more money off of this?"

Cops Seize Hot Dog Vendor, March Cart Through Streets to Precinct [NYDN]
City Readies Cart Attack [NYP]
Six Arrested in Probe of City's Food Vendors [Diner's Journal]