500 Solar-Powered Food Carts to Roll Onto NYC's Streets This Summer

This summer, hundreds of new-age food carts equipped with solar panels, rechargeable batteries, and technology adapted from hybrid cars, will roll out on to the streets of New York City. All told, a company called MOVE Systems is outfitting NYC with 500 initial carts for free, paid for through donations and private partnerships. In addition to cutting down on pollution, the carts should help improve the health of vendors and those who operate businesses nearby. A shoe shiner, who works next to a food cart in Manhattan told the Journal: "I breathe it in, I get the fumes, I get the smell of the food....I get home and my clothing smells like gas."

The city grants 2,800 year-round permits, 1,000 seasonal permits, 200 borough-specific permits, and 1,000 fruit and vegetable permits a year, and there's a long waiting list, so these new carts will likely go to established vendors who have signed up to trade in their carts. The first carts should roll out after Memorial Day.