Street vendors are part of every New Yorker’s daily existence—from morning coffee to that hangover-crushing gyro stand three beats from your office door. Often immigrants with little power over big business and bureaucratic forces, vendors survive unwarranted tickets, ballooning taxes and general unpleasantness from corporate enemies. (Hey, if you’re a suit at Chipotle, do you really want some guy selling hot dogs outside your shiny new Park Avenue location?)

The Street Vendor Project, organizers of the annual Vendy Awards, works as a quasi-union, offering street vendors education as well as a voice at City Hall. This year’s nominees represent the culinary diversity of the NYC streets, from Trinidadian oxtail and mole poblano from Guerrero, to the King of Queens (falafels and shawarmas in this case).

Show your support on Saturday, Sept. 29, when the Awards will be presented at Tompkins Square Park from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Advance tickets go for $60—they bump up to $75 on the day itself—and get you unlimited samples of the five finalists’ fare, as well as beer and wine. This year’s judges include comedian Mo Rocca, Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer and food writer extraordinaire Ed Levine of Serious Eats (we love Ed!).

We visited the five finalists and asked them about secret recipes (they spill the beans), upcoming restaurants (offers are flying) and their chances of winning the coveted Vendy. Modesty was checked at the metal counter.

ON TO THE INTERVIEWS—>