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Grease truck forced off campus after U. fails to renew license Nikhilesh De news editor
When RU Hungry?’s license to park at the corner by Alexander Library expired at the end of 2016, the University declined to renew it. The self-proclaimed “home of the original fat sandwich” was located at 159 College Ave. after being removed from Lot 8 nearly five years ago. When the franchise opened a physical store in The Yard @ College Ave, Rutgers officials told Ayman Elnaggar, the truck’s owner, that they would not allow the truck to remain there. “There is no why, they told me that ‘your trailer is too big to accommodate on campus,’” he said. “I said ‘what if I get a smaller truck,’ they said they cannot promise me anything. Now, (they are) not going to renew the license.” Elnaggar, who has owned and operated the truck since 1997, said he placed it into storage until he can find another location to run it. He will try to find another location to put the truck by springtime but said it would have to be off campus, as he was told by the University that his new location cannot be school property.
“I can’t be on campus because Rutgers won’t allow me … I asked them to be on Busch or Cook or Douglass, they said no,” he said. “I tried to be anywhere — if you can help me be anywhere, I’ll bring it tomorrow.” In an email obtained by The Daily Targum, Rutgers University’s Director of Real Estate Debra McNally told Elnaggar, “We cannot allow your truck to continue to operate on campus in the roving program. Your truck does not meet the qualifications of the food truck program and was given an accommodation that will be revoked at the end of this month since we will no longer have a dedicated food truck stall program on campus going forward.” The truck’s last day was on Dec. 24 — Christmas Eve — Elnaggar said. The lease expired on New Year’s Eve a few days later. The main justification Elnaggar was given was due to the new store that he now rents, not owns, from the school. In an attempt to make it feel like home, he has designed the interior to reflect the truck’s history. “You’ve gotta live with what you get, I’m trying to focus on my store,” he said. “At least I have a beautiful store, I’ve tried to have a good
The RU Hungry? grease truck has been at Rutgers for nearly 40 years, but after the University declined to renew its operating license, it has been forced to leave school grounds. NIKHILESH DE connection between the store and the truck. I built up a (display) truck, I built a big fat sandwich, I have the original tables (and) some signs from the truck. I did the best I could.” The store has an expanded menu, which now includes chicken shawarma, shakes, quesadillas, salads and wraps, he said. While the store’s sales have been fine so far, Elnaggar hopes word will spread that RU Hungry? still
exists at Rutgers. The new location, while bigger than the truck, is also located further away from parking facilities, making it more difficult to get to for many. Sales have decreased a bit from what the truck used to receive. “A lot of people think we left, but … we’re still here. I documented everything here, the (truck’s) history,” he said. “Let’s keep the grease truck tradition alive, it’s very important.”
New criteria were established to regulate food trucks after they were relocated from Lot 8, said University spokesperson Karen Smith. The new regulations limit trucks to being 26 feet or shorter. They also cannot be trailers or park on city streets. “The RU Hungry? truck was positioned on a trailer and it far exceeded 26 feet. We allowed the truck to be located on Senior Street as that spot was sufficient to accommodate the additional length. Once the Yard opened and new food offerings came to that area, we removed the Senior Street location for outside food trucks,” she said. Smith said Elnaggar had been informed at the beginning of the process, before the new store was opened. “I felt ver y bad to lose the trailer but I couldn’t do any better, I tried the best I can, I almost begged them but they don’t want it,” Elnaggar said. “Please come to the store, support the store so we keep the tradition alive. We make the best food, we do the best we can … with your support, we’ll stay. If you don’t support us, we’ll vanish.”
Democratic Socialists of America hold 1st chapter meeting of 2017 Gabriela Amaral staff writer
On Jan. 28, the Central New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) held their first meeting since the presidential election. The DSA was founded as a branch of the Socialist Party of America when it merged with an organization from the Students for a Democratic Society and the New Left in 1982, he said. The DSA is not a political party, but a non-profit, social welfare organization. As a multi-tendency organization, many of the members hold different definitions of socialism, but they share the common goal of functioning as democratically as possible, he said. Socialism is the fullest realization of democratic values. Since the election of President Donald J. Trump, the organization has grown from 6,000 to 15,000 nationwide members, Alper said. Networks have formed through the Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) campaign and campaigns for a minimum wage increase, he said. The focus of the meeting and the DSA’s most current project is the “sanctuary campus” and “sanctuary city” movement. Christopher Bowe is chair of the Central New Jersey DSA. Their
main goal is to emerge as the opposition front to Trump, he said. “Our role as a national organization is to create (a) historic contrast between neoliberalism that has failed and just lost this election and defeating the more fascist elements of Trumpism,” Bowe said. The sanctuary movement is both defensive and offensive in that it aims to protect people while also finding opportunities to expand into campaigns for universal health care, paid sick leave and wage increases, he said. José Sanchez, a Rutgers Class of 2016 graduate, gave a presentation on the sanctuary campus movement at the University. Sanchez was involved in the sanctuary march at Rutgers that took place the week after the election. Being a sanctuary campus means the administration at a college or university campus will not turn in undocumented students and will protect their privacy and pursuit of an education, Sanchez said. The march was a success both with pro- and anti-Trump students participating, Sanchez said. There was a CNN live stream of the march, coverage by the Star Ledger and Spanish-language media. Rutgers has since adopted policies that are generally present in a
sanctuary campus to protect undocumented students, Sanchez said. Such policies include not allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents onto campus without a warrant, refusing to share information on student’s’ citizenship status with ICE agents and refusing to collect such information in the first place.. University President Robert L. Barchi recently sent a letter to the Rutgers community calling upon students to advocate for the protection of undocumented students. While Barchi said Rutgers University would be a “safe haven for immigrant students,” he has stopped short of calling it a sanctuary campus, Sanchez said. Students’ rights organizations across the country have organized national days of action in support of sanctuary campuses, he said. This is a pressing issue at universities because there are estimates of 200,000 to 225,000 undocumented students across the country, he said. “This is a large population of educated (and) skilled people who face deportation,” Sanchez said. Stanford and Rutgers University were the first universities to See meeting on Page 4
Rutgers students, faculty and alumni attended a two-day rally at Battery Park over the weekend to protest President Donald J. Trump’s anti-immigration executive order. REUTERS
Rutgers community joins protests at Battery Park Kira Herzog correspondent
On Friday, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order which essentially closed the United States border to refugees and citizens from seven Muslim nations. This ban included green cards holders, and within 24 hours, an unknown number of travelers were detained at airports across the country, according to National Public Radio. Almost immediately, demonstrators filled the international
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terminals of major airports across the country to protest. Over the weekend protests spread to major cities including Washington, D.C., San Francisco and New York City. Rutgers students, faculty and alumni participated in a two-day march at Battery Park in New York City. Rutgers students have been directly affected by the ban, said Sherry Wolf, senior organizer of the American Association of University Professors—American Federation See protests on Page 4