Simfan, I feel like New York should have a better selection of very good cheap food than anywhere else in the country.
You must realise all the decent carts were replaced by "food trucks" run by white people years ago. I recall the carts from my youth with a myriad of food, today we have the halal carts still but that's drunk or tired food, certainly not "very good". They're now all selling $20 lobster rolls or $7 Belgian Waffles. No, no, it's all atrociously expensive.
While expensive food trucks are, indeed, a thing nowadays (though they're not actually all run by white people), there is still plenty of good cheap food to be had. I mean, Chinatown still exists, just for starters.
And the halal carts are great.
