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Food Truck Markets Providing Outlet For City's Street Food Vendors

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With all the difficulties food trucks are facing -- from legal issues to parking tickets and troubles with other vendors, two food truck lots are providing vendors with a safe, new outlet to serve customers.

We recently stopped by the World Financial Center (WFC) Food Truck Court and the Long Island City (LIC) Food Truck Lot to check them out.

See Also: The 6 Best Food Trucks In New York City

The WFC Food Truck Court is in a dead end on N. End Ave just west of 4 WFC. It's a beautiful setting right by the water. There are plenty of places to sit outside by the water when the weather's nice. When it's not, the Winter Garden is one of the most stunning public spaces in the city, and a perfect place to eat lunch indoors.

There are plenty of high-end restaurant options in the area, but not a lot of choices for those looking for a quick, cheap lunch.

More: The 12 Best Lunches In Downtown NYC

Brookfield Properties, who manage the site, worked with the NYC Food Truck Association to bring in 4 food trucks per day from 11 a.m.  - 3:00 p.m.

It was so popular, they added a 5th truck to help reduce the lines.

It's a bit out of the way if you don't live or work in the area, but there are so many people working in the immediate vicinity, as well as residents and tourists, the WFC Food Truck Court is an unqualified success.

Several vendors told us the WFC Food Truck Court is their best day of the week for business - and you don't have to worry about getting a parking ticket or being told to leave by the police.

The LIC Food Truck Lot is essentially a parking lot at 43-29 Crescent St with 2-3 food trucks per day that's a block from Citibank's LIC office tower. We took the N/Q train to Queensboro Plaza and walked about 4 blocks through an industrial area.

It's not the nicest looking area, but seemed safe during the day. Of course, the lot wasn't designed for people coming by train, it was created to serve Citibank employees and another office building on an adjacent block.

There are 3 picnic tables that you can sit at to eat, but a lot of people seemed to take the food back to their office. Maybe when it's a little warmer, more people will eat outside.

One thing the LIC Food Truck Lot has that nobody else has is the Pera Turkish Taco truck. We used to enjoy them at the former Tavern on the Green space that a food truck court last season.

The woman in the truck told me they might be doing some events and festivals, but they have no plans to come into Manhattan. For now Pera only intends to be at the LIC Food truck Lot twice a week, currently Tuesdays and Fridays.

While both of these food truck lots are located somewhat on the outskirts, there are enough people working nearby to make them worthwhile for the vendors.

For more on the New York City food truck scene, check out our daily reviews of lunchtime eats from the Big Apple's best street vendors.

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