Hotdogs, characterized by its key components: the sausage at the middle (or the ‘dog’), the hotdog bun, and a zic-zac dash of ketchup and yellow mustard, is the all-time most recognizable American street sandwich. Despite originating in the United States, ‘hotdog’ was not entirely an American thing. The ‘dog’ itself was actually introduced into the Western culture around the 1800s, when German immigrants made their way to the U.S, carrying along their sausages, most notably among which was the ‘dachshund’ variety. They also had their tradition of eating these sausages nestled in a loaf of bread. However, the American hotdog bun that we all know and love today came later along the history of hotdog. The term ‘hotdog’ itself is claimed to be coined in America, though by different historians under varied contexts. Inarguably, the easiest explanation for the term seems to be “It’s hot, straight out of the cart, and the Germans call it a dachshund sausage, which is also a type of dog. Hotdog!”
Today, the hotdog has established its place in the US’s urban life-style. Hotdog carts have become associated with the streets of big cities, especially in New York, as depicted in American TV shows and movies throughout the years. Sandwiched between rows of sky-scrapers, dazzling traffic and all sorts of bizarre noises, hotdog vendors find themselves a spot at street corners, in front of tourist attractions, recreational parks or fairs. As these are ‘choke-points’, where there is a high rate of hourly passer-bys, plus the fact that people are hungry all the time, business becomes extremely profitable.
This makes us wonder: What if more and more people seized the opportunity to open their hotdog stand, or whatever food they sell, in the heart of New York? Would that create an overload of dogs?
It turns out that the authority has already anticipated such a phenomenon for years now. To prevent crisis, it issued something known as the ‘hotdog license’, which one needs in order to run a hotdog stand. Depending on the specific location, licenses range from over $500 a year to nearly $300,000. Inside of Inwood Hill Park stands a cart whose permit costs $700 a year, as foot traffic here isn’t great. Meanwhile, the Central Park is where all activities happen, and people would kill for a spot to sell their dogs. As a result, demand for a license is at an all-time high: a stand at the Metropolitan Museum of Art costs $125,170 a year, another one on 72nd Street costs $233,000, another one outside Tavern on the Green restaurants for $266,850, and another just outside the Central Park Zoo at $289,500 a year, officially making it the most expensive hotdog license in all of New York.
Getting a license in New York is also not-at-all an easy task. The government laid out a cap of 3100 hotdog stands for the city at the moment. This means that anyone who wishes to open their own stand in the city center has to put their names onto a waiting list, whose expected wait time is rumored to reach as high as 20 years. Another way to acquire a hotdog license is from the vendors themselves. There are those who leave the scene in search of a new career, putting their license up for auction, and God knows how much the highest bidder is willing to pay for a piece of paper.
“With such a high investment fee, how can these hotdog carts break even?” you may ask. This comes down to the pricing of the dogs. One hotdog and bun may cost around $0.75 at wholesales, while sodas around $0.25, totaling up to $1. When these items are sold at a stand, the hotdog is $2, and most drinks are around $2 too. A combo is sold for four times the original price, but it is not so ridiculous that it draws customers away from itself. Supposing there were 3 customers every 2 minutes, as for the stands around the Central Park, the vendors would make around $60 per hour. A 14-hour shift would then mean $840 a day, and about $300,000 per year, which means vendors would be able to pay their bills. Most hotdog carts also sell ice-cream, sometimes cotton candy or some types of dessert, and there are always guests who go out in groups, there is definitely room for financial growth. In reality, the average income of New York’s hot dog stand owners is estimated at around $100,000 per year, after subtracting all the costs involved!
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