Mayor Defends Controversial Arrest of Fruit Vendor Documented in Viral Video

Days after a video of NYPD officers handcuffing a fruit vendor surfaced on Twitter, prompting outcry from elected officials and local organizers, Mayor Eric Adams signaled his support for the arrest. When asked about the incident at a press conference on Monday, Adams said New Yorkers must “follow rules” and expressed concern about people getting sick from food sold without a permit, according to the New York Times. “Next day, it’s propane tanks being on the subway system,” Adams said. “The next day, it’s barbecuing on the subway system. You just can’t do that.”

The comments, made in regards to María Falcon, an Ecuadorian immigrant who was arrested after being accused of selling mangoes, kiwis, and other fruit out of the Broadway Junction subway station without a license on April 29, triggered online backlash, with users criticizing the mayor for over-policing the city’s street vendors. “No individual should be handcuffed and humiliated for simply selling fresh fruits to provide for their family,” the Street Vendor Project, an advocacy group for thousands of local vendors, said in a statement following the incident.

A Caribbean marketplace returns in Brooklyn

The Flatbush Caton Market, a longtime home for Caribbean, West African, and Central American vendors in Brooklyn, returns this week under a new name. The Flatbush Central Caribbean Marketplace, as it is now called, celebrates its grand opening at 2123 Caton Avenue, at Flatbush Avenue, on Friday, May 13 with rum tastings, food samples, steel drum performances, and more, according to Time Out. Twenty-nine of the market’s original vendors are returning, along with food vendors selling Trinidadian fare and Brazilian snacks.

Moosewood Restaurant reopens under new ownership

Ithaca’s famed Moosewood Restaurant, known for its pioneering vegetarian cookbooks, has reopened under new ownership, a spokesperson tells Eater. Danica Wilcox, the daughter of Kip Wilcox, one of 19 friends who opened the vegetarian restaurant in 1973, took the reins earlier this year, reopening the space with a new menu — rosemary crepes, spicy coconut curry — and old favorites, including its fudge brownies and spanakopita.

The Mermaid Inn team opens a Mexican restaurant

The team behind the Mermaid Inn heads in a new direction today. The mini-chain of Manhattan seafood restaurants has opened the doors on Mermaid Mexicana, a Mexican restaurant at 79 MacDougal Street, between Bleecker and West Houston streets, according to a spokesperson. The new spot serves whole fish, al pastor and birria tacos, and functions as a new home for Mermaid Inn’s popular happy hour with $1.25 oysters and $6 beers.