The untold story of Snack Dragon's attempted East Village comeback

Top photo and interview by Stacie Joy

Josephine Jansen, who has lived in the East Village since 1988, embarked on her culinary journey with the inception of Snack Dragon at Ben's Deli, 32 Avenue B, in 2004. Following a year of perfecting her recipes, she relocated just around the corner to 199 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, where Kolkata Chai currently operates. 

However, this chapter ended when the space closed its doors in 2015, thanks to a rent hike imposed by landlord Steve Croman (colloquially called "Cromanated").

Despite the setback, Jansen harbored ambitions of reintroducing Snack Dragon in a new format, this time housed within a camper van. However, regulatory challenges with the city thwarted her plans. 

She shares the untold story behind these endeavors and the obstacles encountered here.

What is the history of Snack Dragon, and when did the Third Street space open/close? 

The Snack Dragon concept came about when Ben's Deli had an empty juice kiosk. I told Ben he should sell soup out of there, and he said you should sell soup out of there. 

I had been having taco parties back then, and my dog Loopy's nickname was Snack Dragon; thus, the concert was born. I operated out of there for a year and a half. Many stories to tell from that era and many sagas with Task Force One, the harebrained scheme to take restaurants to a new brand of hell by visiting them/me with all government agencies at once! 

I can't speak for the neighborhood, but I can say so many of us miss Snack Dragon! Can you tell me your plans for the new mobile Snack Dragon van and how the idea came about? 

Thank you. I miss it too! I miss my employees, the energy, the customers…I mean, it was a lot of work. The city is not easy to deal with, but yeah, after the demise of Third Street: Quadruple rent after 10 years, and also Orchard Street (tortious eviction) I was crushed. I didn’t really write it into my business plan that landlords didn’t give a fuck. 

Just to be clear, the 1975 Dodge Diamond Class C Camper that I renovated was to be an indoor sit-down restaurant with a kitchen and was not a food truck per se with food going out a window, although that was an option. It was meant to be like a room where people would come in and order food and drink, etc. It had a dining room for eight and a kitchen, so I was going to bring it into the East Village to see how it would work. Turn on the music—and make food—and margaritas. 

From the beginning, Snack Dragon was always kind of an art project that served food. It was an experiment that happily worked. After things fell apart in NYC, I opened a restaurant down in the Virgin Islands on St. John that, crazy as it sounds, was destroyed by Hurricane Irma. The whole island was crushed. 

I returned to New York and tried to start all kinds of options, but I found this camper in Maine, where I was a chef. It had these wraparound windows in the back, and I just thought it would be so cool to have a communal dining room and a small, efficient kitchen. 

I was also planning on having private dinner parties with high-end Mexican food. Most of the renovation occurred during the COVID lockdown; you couldn’t expect folk to cozy into a camper then, so I had to wait it out. It was ready to launch last May.

And what happened to the vehicle? Can you walk us through the timeline of what occurred? 

On May 24, 2023, at 6 a.m., on the Valentino Pier in Red Hook, my 1975 Dodge Diamond Camper was towed away by the Sanitation Department. It was supposedly destroyed within 24 hours. There were no stickers or tagging on the vehicle at all. 

I had a friend who was staying in and watching my camper and who was there telling them who the owner was. The tow truck driver yelled out an address, which was written down incorrectly. My search for the camper ensued for three days until I finally reached the Sanitation Department and was told that it had been destroyed the previous day. They did not have my vehicle identification number (VIN) on record. 

The VIN for a 1975 Class C camper is only eight digits long, so they argued that it wasn’t a valid number. Going by the description, a DSNY employee said that my camper was, in fact, destroyed. When I finally drove out to 803 Forbell St. [Department of Sanitation lot], I was again told it was destroyed, and they gave me a claim form and sent me on my way. 

I was sobbing, and one of the workers laughed at me. My vehicle did not fit the protocol for destruction. It had no dents in it and was in remarkable shape. Also it had brand new signs saying do not trespass facing outwards. There was no evidence that it was abandoned or derelict. 

Vehicles must be legally embellished with stickers and fluorescent crayon three days before towing. Inside the camper were $3,000-plus value in tools and $2,000 worth of cooking and kitchen appliances, and at least $1,000 worth of camping equipment. 

I personally remodeled every square inch of the inside of the camper while keeping the outside modest. As an artist, I am also a relational aesthetician. The camper was much more than just a food business.

Is there any hope for the truck? Do you have plans to create a new taco truck? What’s next? Any possibilities of opening a new Snack Dragon close by? 

Right now, I am gearing up for a case in Federal Court, as my constitutional rights to due process were not only violated but also not even considered. My burden of proof lies in proving that, along with lost property and emotional distress, I need to prove a loss of income. 

It will be difficult to prove since I have only had parties to test the camper's functionality. I have only my previous businesses and my fans to attest that this, indeed, would have been a success. I hope the damages I receive will help me find a way for Snack Dragon to open again in the East Village.

I recently bought a Shasta 1972 Starflyte trailer camper, which is parked upstate. But the city doesn't take kindly to campers of any kind. So, I'm trying to work out what is viable. 

Josephine is looking for photos of the old Snack Dragon space and asks that people reach out via Instagram. Camper photos courtesy of Josephine.