Tamale Lady

Though she called out "Tamales! Tamales! Tamales!" whenever passengers disembarked from the 7 train, the lady (shown here without a younger woman who spoke some English, and who may be an assistant during busier hours) seemed already to have secured the bulk of the local streetside tamale business. A similar vendor nearby said little, and sold less.

From a somewhat limited late morning selection, a pollo picante tamale (spicy chicken; $1) was laced with the occasional hot pepper that kept me on my toes. To score a coveted mole tamale, I hear, better arrive early.

When I circled back two hours later, I found a police van stopped near the corner, where an officer was writing the tamale lady a summons. Though she did not specify the violations, the officer took a few minutes to explain to me that due to the growing number of vendors in the neighborhood, there had been growing concern about congestion, from storeowners and others; that a street vendor could not sell within ten feet of a subway exit; that a vendor could not impede a crosswalk; that a repurposed shopping cart was not safe for selling food; and that a vendor needed to secure the appropriate permits and licenses. I'll circle around again, and report back.

Tamale Lady
Near the southwest corner of 82nd St. and Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights, Queens

Comments

[Dina D'Alessandro]

The first time I ever walked past a tamales stand and the lady there was yelling out "Tamales! Tamales!" I must have pricked up my ears on the second syllable because I could have sworn she was saying "Moleste! "Moleste!"

I suppose you had to be there.

[Justin]

She survived the ticket complete with her cart as I've been getting morning tamales from her for a while HOWEVER I haven't seen her for nearly a month.