Who to call, what permitting actually costs, and a free checklist to work through before the inspector shows up.
Requirements reviewed 2026-07-28 against NYC Health, Mobile and Temporary Food Vendors.
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), or your county health department outside NYC
Inside New York City, two separate things are licensed: the person and the cart. A vendor needs a mobile food vendor licence or a supervisory licence, and the unit itself needs its own permit. Outside the city, county health departments handle permitting under state food safety rules.
NYC Health Mobile Food Vendors →The order matters — several of these are expensive to do out of sequence.
To work on a cart or truck you need a mobile food vendor licence, which requires passing the NYC Health Department's Food Protection Course for Mobile Vendors. There is no cap on the number of vendor licences the city issues, but each vendor may hold only one.
The vendor licence is not the bottleneck. The number of unit permits is capped, and waiting lists are how they are allocated. This is the constraint that decides whether you can trade at all.
New local laws increase available mobile food vending permits by 11,000. From 1 July 2026, 2,200 new supervisory licences are being released each year for five years, offered first to people already on the waiting lists created in 2022.
The cart or truck must be cleaned, serviced, and stored at a facility approved by the Health Department, and that facility needs its own Non-Retail Food Establishment Permit. Permit holders have to supply a commissary agreement.
This is a hard rule, not a guideline. Units must be stored at the facility when not in use and returned at least once each day for cleaning and maintenance.
In New York City the meaningful cost is time, not money. The vendor licence and the Food Protection Course are affordable and uncapped; the unit permit is capped and allocated by waiting list, which is why the city is releasing 2,200 supervisory licences a year from July 2026. Plan the licence and the course around a build schedule, and plan the permit around a queue. Outside NYC, the county health department sets its own fees and timelines.
Inside the five boroughs, DOHMH. Outside them, your county health department, working from New York State food safety rules. The split matters more than it looks: the licence-plus-permit structure, the permit cap, and the daily commissary return are NYC rules, and none of them describe how permitting works upstate.
The licence belongs to the person and the permit belongs to the cart or truck. You need both. There is no limit on vendor licences and each vendor may hold one; unit permits are capped and allocated through waiting lists.
Not for the vendor licence itself. The waiting lists apply to permits and to supervisory licences. From 1 July 2026 the city is releasing 2,200 new supervisory licences a year for five years, going first to people on the 2022 waiting lists.
At least once every day. The unit has to be stored at an approved commissary, depot, or alternative facility when not in use and returned daily for cleaning and maintenance, and that facility must hold a Non-Retail Food Establishment Permit.
In New York City, food truck rules and regulations come from Health Code Article 89 - a two-layer system where the person holds a vending licence and the truck holds a unit permit. Outside NYC, county health departments regulate instead, with their own permits and inspection schedules.
The $9 prep pack adds a print-ready checklist, a commissary letter template, an inspection log, and a temperature reference card.
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