Oh my god, keeping on top of things is not my specialties. But none the less, a review!

Spring brings one of my favorite phenomenons to New York City: The fruit stand guys. Everyone in Manhattan (maybe outside of Manhattan too, I don't know) has their guy. Usually, they hang out on a corner with a big stand with sort of a random mix of fruit. Depending on where you live, there's also sometimes a hot dog cart or a breakfast pastries cart or something like this. I fucking love the fruit stand guys. I've got a few in my neighborhood and I love stopping by to pick up something fresh and cheap on my way back from class. Plus, because it's usually the same guy every day, you get to know your guy and you're more likely to get bargains or price breaks this way. When I lived in Gramercy, the fruit stand guy there would give me free stuff all the time or give me something discounted if I only had change. Being the way I am about saving money, you know I dug that.

Pros

• Much cheaper than most other produce options in the city
• Usually pretty fresh, good quality food
• Almost always nearby, most every neighborhood I've been in in Manhattan has at least one and usually more stands around. I have at least two that I pass by in my neighborhood
• Friendly service. You get to know your local stand and have friendly little chats. It's a nice homey feeling
• Pretty much no lines
• Pretty good variety of food and if one cart doesn't have what you're looking for, it's not usually too long a walk to a different cart which probably will

Cons

• You need to have cash, these guys don't take cards
• While they are all over the place during the spring, summer and most of the fall, winter sends all but the hardiest of these guys packing. You can still find a few around (the Gramercy guy I used to go to never went away) but it's a harder game come winter
• Hours are unreliable and they aren't necessarily there every day

Let's be honest: I fucking love these guys and would do all my food shopping at the carts if I could. It is much much cheaper to get produce this way and the food is usually good. My latest bargain find? Tomatoes on the vine for $1.50 a pound. At least for Manhattan prices, it's unbelievable! So I bought two pounds and I'll have tomato sauce for the freezer. A success story! And though I love the winter cold, I'm going to be so sad to see my fruit stand guy head for the indoors. I'll be waiting for spring to roll around again!