During the NYC marathon, I saw an actual fight break loose between two halal vendors over a good spot next to the spectators. One was screaming that he had already claimed the territory hours earlier. This was a special scenario since the marathon is a one day fest where lots of vendors of all kinds flock to busy intersections.

I'm assuming arguments over permanent spots doesn't actually happen as often because there seems to be an unwritten agreement where if someone claims a spot for years, you can't just plop your business right there. Some spots are even monetized. One day a few years ago, my favorite Penn Station halal cart was replaced by another one. When I asked the guy working what happened to the previous guy, he told me he bought his spot for $25,000 cash. I don't know if that 48th street area works the same way but it's prime territory for business so I wouldn't be surprised if spots are monetized. There probably is no such thing as a 'mafia' since everyone's a competitor. Thing get really confusing when there are unwritten rules that only a few people know about. I'd get pretty angry if I paid thousands of dollars for a spot only to have someone who isn't aware of the unwritten rule place his business there for free.

The city should really start handing out permits for actual spots to prevent this sort of stuff. It's truly a lack of oversight by the city. They could make tons of money from issuing such permits so I don't know why they don't bother. The hipster vegan carts I used to frequent in Boston all had location permits. Issuing them prevents conflicts like the one in the story. Kind of ridiculous someone would pay $25,000 for a spot on a corner they don't even 'own' in the conventional sense.

Also, the Post is pretty shitty by going the click-baity route and bringing religion into this as if it's a Middle East conflict by making stupid puns and dumb analogies. This seems to be primarily a business conflict. When I first visited NYC 30 years ago, the vendors were always a mixture of Greeks selling gyros and Arabs alongside them selling chicken and rice. This is America, no one typically gives a shit who you are unless you get in the way of their money.