It might be easy to believe that hotdogs were the first street food in New York. After all, the iconic stands are almost synonymous with the city! However, oysters and seafood have earned that title. New York Harbor and its surrounding waterways had massive oyster beds so shellfish were inexpensive to sell.

Stalls would open and dress clams and oysters for those walking by. They were such a popular snack that the New York beds got quickly overwhelmed and had to stop being fished (pollution also contributed to this as well.)

But while shellfish might have been the first street food to be sold in New York, it was hardly the last. Because pushcarts were relatively inexpensive, recent immigrants could quickly enter into business for themselves and begin hawking wares on the streets of New York. While they sold all sorts of goods, one reliable source of income was through selling food.

T Sausages, pretzels, knishes, and the like were brought across the Atlantic to New York's shores by Eastern European immigrants. The pushcart vendors brought the food of their homelands with them, selling the cuisines that were familiar to them and novel to New Yorkers.

Nowhere was this more evident than on holidays and festivals(as can still be witnessed today) Food markets would spring up around churches and neighborhoods. Stalls like this one (set up for the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) could sell almost everything from soft shell crab to pies.

These stands could be the starting point for entire businesses. Nathan Handwerker, founder of Nathan's Famous, was born in Poland in 1892. Twenty years later he arrived in New York and began to work in the kitchen of Feltman's restaurant in Coney Island. By 1916 he had a hot dog stand of his own, and by 1920 he had opened this riot of signage at 1310 Surf Avenue, where it remains in business today.

However, it was the advent of affordable restaurants like Nathan's that would take its toll on many street cart vendors. The availability of cheap seated meals as well as Mayor LaGuardia's war on pushcarts decreased the number of pushcart food peddlers. Those that remained began offering treats and snacks as opposed to heartier fare.

Snacks like popcorn, pretzels, and peanuts (long the dominion of these carts) remained popular amongst New Yorkers.

While the city began to push and restrict some peddlers, it enabled and regulated others. Hot dog vendors and food trucks were licensed and allowed to operate.

Similarly, as laws have changed the modes of street food throughout the years, so has technology. Here is an ice cream stall in 1900. These would soon transform into...

moveable ice cream carts like this one (from 1983) until the birth of...

The iconic and ubiquitous ice cream truck (whose tunes are no doubt familiar to anyone who has spent a summer in New York.)

The face of street food in New York has changed a lot over the years. From oyster carts and clam vendors to taco trucks and Smorgasberg, it may seem dramatically different.

However, the basis of the business is still the same! Hardworking entrepreneurs and chefs serving up hot meals to New Yorkers on the move.

Whether it be peanuts!

Pretzels!

Or even Soda! There will be street food for New Yorkers to enjoy.