To sell food from a cart or truck on New York City streets you need two things from the Health Department: a Mobile Food Vendor license for yourself ($50, two years, no cap) and a permit for the cart or truck. New full-term street permits now require a supervisory license, which is offered from a waiting list. Under two 2026 local laws, the Health Department is issuing up to 2,200 supervisory licenses a year from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2031, up from 445 a year under the 2021 law: 500 citywide, 1,500 for anywhere outside Manhattan and 200 citywide for veterans and people with disabilities.
The figures come from the Health Department’s supervisory license guide for vendors and the City Council records for Local Law 54 of 2026 and Local Law 59 of 2026. The Council passed both in December 2025 and enacted them over the mayor’s veto on January 29, 2026.
The NYC vendor license and the cart permit are separate
- Mobile Food Vendor license (the person). A photo ID badge issued by the Health Department. You apply in person at the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Licensing Center with a sales tax Certificate of Authority, ID and SSN or ITIN, and pass the Food Protection Course for Mobile Food Vendors ($53 at the NYC Health Academy). The license costs $50 (veterans pay nothing), lasts two years, and each person can hold one. Steps are on NYC Business: Mobile Food Vending License.
- Mobile Food Vending Unit permit (the cart or truck). Also from the Health Department. A full-term permit costs $200 if food is processed on the unit and $75 if it is not (veterans pay nothing), lasts two years, and the unit must pass inspection within six months of applying or the application is void (NYC Business: full-term unit permit).
Supervisory licenses per year: Local Law 18 of 2021 vs the 2026 expansion
A supervisory license is a full-term unit permit tied to one licensed vendor, and that person must be present whenever the cart or truck operates (24 RCNY §6-22(g)(4), with a $1,000 penalty listed in the Health Department’s 2022 rule notice). It costs nothing to issue and $438 at each two-year renewal, with veterans exempt. About 1,300 of the more than 5,800 vendors holding permits had a supervisory license, according to a March 13, 2026 Health Department press release.
| Category | Local Law 18 of 2021 (per year from July 2022) | 2026 laws (per year, July 2026 to June 2031) |
|---|---|---|
| Citywide | 100 | 500 |
| Outside Manhattan | 300 | 1,500 |
| Veterans and people with disabilities | 45 | 200 (citywide) |
| Total per year | 445 | 2,200 |
Local Law 54 also moves the date by which every older permit must have a supervisory licensee attached to July 1, 2031. The Health Department’s Mobile Food Vendors page still shows July 1, 2032, so if you hold a pre-2022 permit, ask the Health Department which date it is applying to your renewal.
How the NYC supervisory license waiting list decides who goes first
The supervisory list is a priority order. Under the 2022 rule, vendors who had held a Mobile Food Vendor license continuously came first, then people already on an older permit waiting list, with ties going to the lower license number. Only the list for veterans and people with disabilities used random selection, up to 100 people per category. The rule took effect November 11, 2022 (NYC Rules).
- Get your individual Mobile Food Vendor license first. Every waiting list is keyed to its 8-digit number.
- Check your place on the Health Department’s mobile food vendor waiting list lookup, which covers the seasonal, Green Cart and supervisory lists.
- Watch for list openings. NYC Business describes the 2022 lists as closed, and the list for veterans and people with disabilities reopened on March 13, 2026 with about 300 more spots, the first reopening since the program began. Ask the Health Department how the 2026 to 2031 licenses will be offered to people on your list.
- When your number is called, apply for the permit, book the unit inspection and bring a commissary agreement.
NYC food cart permits outside the supervisory list
| Permit | Where you can vend | Fee | Cap or waiting list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted Area | Private property, or Parks property under a contract | $200 processing, $75 non-processing ($50 non-processing renewal) | No cap, no waiting list |
| Green Cart | Fresh fruits and vegetables only | Ask the Green Cart program | 1,000 total: Brooklyn 350, Bronx 350, Manhattan 150, Queens 100, Staten Island 50. List open for Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island; 30 days to apply once called |
| Seasonal | Street vending April 1 to October 31 | $35 processing, $15 non-processing | Offered from the seasonal waiting list; current permits run two years from September 12, 2025 |
A General Vendor license for selling non-food goods is a different program run by DCWP. Its new waiting list takes requests from November 2 to December 16, 2026 at 5 p.m., with random priority numbers if requests exceed 3,478 (DCWP rule notice). That list is for general merchandise, so a food vendor still needs the Health Department lists above.
Where NYC food carts are inspected and how they are graded
Carts and trucks are inspected for the permit at the Health Department facility at 1235 Zerega Avenue in the Bronx (212-676-1600), and each unit must be stored at an approved commissary or depot and return to it at least once a day. Since December 2018 the city has graded carts and trucks on the same scale as restaurants: A for 0 to 13 points, B for 14 to 27 and C for 28 or more, with results posted on ABCEats (Health Department vendor guide). Our guide to NYC food cart records explains which record belongs to the vendor, the unit and the commissary, and how to check an NYC grade covers the lookup itself. For fees in Los Angeles, Chicago, King County and five other places, see food truck permit requirements in 8 places.
Checklist before you plan around an NYC food cart permit
- Individual Mobile Food Vendor license number (8 digits) and its expiration date
- Which list you are on (supervisory, seasonal or Green Cart) and your current position in the lookup
- The category you qualify for: citywide, outside Manhattan, or veterans and people with disabilities
- Whether you will process food on the unit ($200 permit) or sell only prepackaged or non-processed food ($75)
- A commissary or depot agreement ready for the inspection
- For an older permit, the supervisory deadline the Health Department applies to you (2031 or 2032)
NYC Health Department, NYC Business, NYC Rules and City Council pages checked October 24, 2026.