A food fight in the Financial District turned ugly when a street vendor mowed down a pregnant rival with his cart, police sources said yesterday.
A heated argument broke out between the 36-year-old man and the five-months-pregnant Asmaa Abdelaal, a neighboring food seller, at about 6 p.m. Friday on Cedar Street near Broadway over rumors the woman had cheated on her husband. The 24-year-old Abdelaal claims she was holding her 7-month-old daughter, Maria, when she was struck by the cart and fell heavily to the ground.
“He started saying terrible things about me, about how my daughter is not from my husband and how I sleep with all kinds of men,” the chicken-and-rice vendor said.
“And then suddenly he pulled the wooden lever from under his cart and the cart rolled into the street, hitting us.”
Abdelaal was taken to New York Downtown Hospital and treated for back and side pain. But food-cart operators along busy Cedar Street yesterday accused Abdelaal of causing the trouble.
“She wanted to get him in trouble. All the customers come to him. She gives me trouble, too,” vendor Eman Libelebide said.
Ali has not been seen since the argument.
Additional reporting by David Hastie