At one time, city residents could buy almost anything on the street. Vendors sold soups, pickles, savory and sweet pies, coffee, candy, nuts, clams, oysters, and cold, fried soft-shell crabs. The advent of more affordable restaurants meant street food became increasingly more treat than necessity, with new offerings such as hot corn, watermelon, ice cream, baked sweet potatoes, roasted apples, and hot chestnuts.
a one-minute video from The New-York Historical Society: Street foods in past New York City
