New York is known as an expensive city and one food vendor in Manhattan is trying to capitalize on that reputation by ripping off tourists and selling hotdogs for $30.
NBC 4 New York did a report Tuesday exposing vendor Ahmed Mohammed and how he tried to rip off customers he believes are tourists by charging them top dollar for street food.
The vendor’s cart was set up right by the World Trade Center which is certainly a tourist attraction and Mohammed seems to be preying on those he believes are sight-seeing.
In the video, he appears to be giving outrageous prices to anyone he thinks is an unsuspecting tourist or anyone with an accent.
One man from New Jersey was told it would be $30 for a wiener and a Dr. Pepper. Another man, with a French accent, was told it was $15 for a hotdog and a pretzel. That man, however, told NBC’s I-team that he is not a tourist and knows what the prices should be.
The New York Daily News noted that street vendors can set their own prices, but it is a violation if they don’t have them posted on the cart.
When reporters returned to the cart the next day, the prices were suddenly cheaper, but Mohammed’s practices were already uncovered and he has since been fired.
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