§ 89.23 Equipment and Hand Wash Sinks .

   (a)   Compliance with 24 RCNY Health Code Article 81 and rules. A mobile food vending unit shall be designed and equipped to hold, prepare, store and serve food in accordance with 24 RCNY Chapter 6 and 24 RCNY Health Code Article 81.

   (b)   Operations exclusively on the mobile food vending unit. The sale, storage, holding, distribution, or display of food from boxes or from any place other than a mobile food vending unit is prohibited.

   (c)   Single-service articles. Consumers shall be provided with single service articles, such as plastic forks and paper plates. Mobile food vendors shall not re-use single service articles and shall provide a container for their disposal. All waste containers shall be emptied and cleaned at the commissary servicing the mobile food vending unit, in accordance with 24 RCNY Health Code § 89.25.

   (d)   Equipment placement. Equipment shall be located and installed in a way that prevents food contamination and facilitates cleaning the unit, in accordance with 24 RCNY Chapter 6.

   (e)   Unobstructed work areas. Unobstructed working spaces are to be provided sufficient to permit persons operating a mobile food vending unit to perform their duties readily without contamination of food or food-contact surfaces by clothing or personal contact.

   (f)   Hand washing facilities required. Hand wash sinks shall be provided in accordance with 24 RCNY Chapter 6.

§ 89.25 Garbage, Refuse and Liquid Wastes .

Garbage, refuse and other solid and liquid wastes shall be collected and stored at the mobile food vending unit while the unit is in use and removed from the unit and disposed of so as to prevent a nuisance.

   (a)   Collection and disposal. Mobile food vending permittees and licensees shall collect garbage, refuse and other solid and liquid wastes at the vending site in a vermin-proof receptacle and remove and dispose of the receptacle at the mobile vending unit's commissary or other facility authorized by the Department. Solid and liquid waste shall not be discarded on public streets or sidewalks or in a public litter basket placed on the streets by the Department of Sanitation, or any other person or entity.

   (b)   Liquid wastes and sewage holding and disposal. Sewage and liquid wastes shall be stored in a permanently installed holding tank that has at least 15 percent greater capacity than the water supply tank in a manner that protects the vending location, personnel and contents within the mobile food vending unit from contamination. All plumbing shall be constructed and maintained so as to prevent contamination of or contact with the potable water supply, food, equipment, utensils, food contact surfaces and non-food contact surfaces, employees and patrons. All sewage and liquid waste shall be disposed of at the mobile food commissary or a sewage disposal system constructed and operated in a manner acceptable to the Department.

   (c)   Debris and consumer litter. The operator of a mobile food vending unit is responsible for and shall remove and clean solid and liquid wastes, debris and food spillage caused by the operation of the unit and consumer littering adjacent to the mobile vending food vending unit.

   (d)   Enforcement. In addition to authorized officers, employees and agents of the Department, authorized officers, employees and agents of the City Department of Sanitation, may order cleanup of wastes and issue summonses and notices of violations for violations of subdivisions (a) and (c) of this section.

§ 89.27 Mobile Food Commissaries .

   (a)   Compliance with applicable law. A mobile food commissary shall be constructed, maintained and operated in accordance with this article, 24 RCNY Health Code Article 81, Subpart 14-2 of the State Sanitary Code or successor regulations, and 24 RCNY Chapter 23, and shall not create or maintain a nuisance with respect to the health or safety of any consumer or the public because of the condition of the mobile food vending unit, its equipment, utensils, personnel, mode of operations, vending location, water supply, liquid and solid waste and sewage disposal, food and appurtenances.

   (b)   Records of food vending units to be maintained. Mobile food commissaries and other facilities approved by the Department shall maintain a list of the mobile vending units serviced by such facilities and make the list available for inspection by the Department on request.

   (c)   Cleaning. Such commissaries or facilities shall provide a cleaning area for cleaning and servicing mobile food vending units that shall be:

      (1)   Large enough to accommodate the largest size mobile food vending unit utilizing the facility.

      (2)   Physically separated from all food operations to avoid contamination of food, equipment and food contact surfaces.

      (3)   Provided with potable water, plumbing fixtures and facilities for the drainage and disposal of liquid wastes and the storage of solid wastes in accordance with 24 RCNY Health Code Article 81.

   (d)   Street and sidewalk cleaning prohibited. Mobile food vending units shall not be cleaned or serviced on public streets and sidewalks, including those adjacent to commissaries.

   (e)   Garbage and waste disposal. Commissaries shall collect and remove garbage, refuse and liquid wastes in accordance with 24 RCNY Health Code Article 81 and other applicable law.

   (f)   Enforcement. In addition to authorized officers, employees and agents of the Department, authorized officers and employees of the Department of Sanitation, or successor agency, may issue notices of violation or orders to remediate any nuisances created by vendors in violation of this section.

§ 89.29 Imminent Health Hazards .

   (a)   Cessation of operations of a mobile food vending unit for imminent health hazards. The Department may order any person operating a mobile food vending unit to immediately cease operations and serving food if the continued operation of the unit presents an imminent hazard to public health, as defined in 24 RCNY Health Code Article 81 and Part 14 of the State Sanitary Code. Any person ordered to cease operations and service of food pursuant to this section shall comply with such order immediately.

   (b)   Seizure of permit and license(s) authorized. When the Department determines that a vending unit is operating with imminent health hazards and has ordered the vendor to cease operation, the Department may seize the permit document, and the operator's license document and badge, and may apply a seal or sign to cover the mobile food vending unit's decal, or remove the decal, thereby suspending the license and/or permit.

   (c)   Suspension of the vendor's license and permit. In the event a license or permit has been seized, the licensee or permittee shall, within 10 calendar days thereafter, be provided with a hearing as to why the cessation order should be rescinded and as to why the mobile food vendor's license and the permit for the unit should not be further suspended or revoked.

   (d)   Restoration of the vendor's license or permit. If the Department determines within 10 calendar days after issuing the cessation order that the imminent hazard resulting in the order has been corrected, and that public health will not be adversely affected by the resumed operation of the vending unit, the Department may return or reissue any license and/or permit that it has seized pursuant to this section. The Department may condition such return on the licensee and/or permittee agreeing to take any steps necessary so that the hazard does not recur.

   (e)   Operation prohibited until after hearing. Unless otherwise provided in this section, no person shall operate the unit until there has been a hearing at OATH followed by expeditious adoption by the Commissioner of the report and recommendation of an OATH administrative law judge, setting forth a finding that continued operation of the unit by or on behalf of the permittee does not present a continuing hazard to the public health. If the administrative law judge finds that continued operation of the mobile food vending unit by the permittee and the licensee presents a continuing hazard to the public health, the permittee and licensee may request that the Commissioner provide them with an opportunity to correct the violations and to demonstrate that they are willing and able to operate the mobile food vending unit in compliance with all applicable law. If such request is not received the Commissioner shall issue an order suspending or revoking the permittee's mobile food vending unit permit and license and the operator's mobile food vending license.

   (f)   Service of cessation order. If the operator of the mobile food vending unit is not the permit holder, the order issued pursuant to this section shall be served upon the permittee by delivery to the person operating the mobile food vending unit, and by mailing the order to the permittee's address, as maintained in Department records, pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code § 3.05(b).

   (g)   Cessation signs not to be removed. Cessation signs or seals affixed by the Department shall not be removed except by order of the Commissioner or designee.

§ 89.31 Enforcement.

   (a)   Operation without permit. Any mobile food vending unit being operated without a currently valid mobile food vending unit permit issued by the Commissioner shall be deemed an imminent health hazard and may be seized by the Department and all the food therein denatured or otherwise disposed of.

   (b)   Denial of license or permit. The Commissioner may refuse to issue or renew, or may suspend or revoke a license or permit in accordance with provisions of this Code, or other applicable law.

   (c)   Unattended units prohibited. No mobile food vending unit shall be parked on the street overnight, or left unattended at any time food is kept in the mobile food vending unit.

      (1)   Any mobile food vending unit which is found to be unattended or which a vendor has abandoned shall be considered an imminent health hazard subject to the provisions of 24 RCNY Health Code § 89.29.

      (2)   Any cessation order issued for abandoning a mobile food vending unit or leaving such unit unattended shall, in the absence of the operator of such unit, be served by posting or affixing notice of such cessation order on such unit. Notice of the cessation order shall thereafter be mailed to the permittee's address, as maintained in the Department's records, pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code Article 3.

   (d)   Authorized enforcement officers. Public health sanitarians or other authorized officers of employees of the Department and other City departments or agencies having jurisdiction over matters applicable to the operations of mobile food vendors and mobile food vending units, including, but not limited to, officers of the Police Department, shall have the power to enforce all laws, rules and regulations relating to mobile food vendors and mobile food vending units, including the provisions of this Article. This Article shall not be construed as restricting in any way any other power granted by law to any officer or employee of the City. Any such officer or employee may seize any food or mobile food vending unit which does not have a permit or which is being used by an unlicensed mobile food vendor. Such mobile food vending unit and food shall be subject to forfeiture and disposal or sale in accordance with applicable law.

   (e)   Removal costs. A mobile food vending unit and its contents that are seized pursuant to subdivision (d) of this section, or other applicable law may be removed to any garage, automobile pound or other place of safety, and the owner, or other person lawfully entitled to the possession of such vehicle or pushcart may be charged with reasonable costs for such removal and storage, payable prior to the release of the mobile food vending unit.

§ 89.33 Suspension and Revocation of License or Permit .

A license or permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this Article may be suspended or revoked by the Commissioner upon notice and hearing for any of the following causes:

   (a)   Fraud, misrepresentation or false statements contained in the application for the license or permit;

   (b)   Fraud, misrepresentation or false statements made in connection with the selling of any item of food;

   (c)   Having been found in violation four or more times of the provisions of Subchapter 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 17 of the Administrative Code within a two-year period, or a violation of the provisions of Part 14 of Chapter 1 of the State Sanitary Code or of this Code, or of 24 RCNY Chapter 6 within a two-year period;

   (d)   Failure to answer a summons or notice of violation, or failure to appear at a hearing for violation of Subchapter 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 17 of the Administrative Code, or of 24 RCNY Chapter 6, or of this Code or the State Sanitary Code, or failure to pay a fine or penalty imposed by the Commissioner, Department or court for any such violation.

   (e)   A license or permit that has been issued to a person who is not eligible pursuant to Subchapter 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 17 of the Administrative Code or this Code to hold such license or permit shall be deemed automatically invalid, and issued in error. Notice of such determination shall be made by first class mail to the last known address of the licensee or permittee, as maintained in Department records, and shall be a final agency determination.

   (f)   It shall not be a defense in any proceeding to revoke a license or permit that the licensee or permittee changed his or her address without providing notice to the Department.

   (g)   Notice; hearings. Notice and hearing upon denial of an application, refusal to issue or renew, or where the Commissioner seeks to suspend or revoke a license or permit shall be provided in accordance with this Code, 24 RCNY Chapter 7, and § 17-317 of the Administrative Code.