At site of the NYC shooting, loss is signified by bullet holes and food truck orders

Following the tragic shooting at the NFL headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, the tight-knit community around 345 Park Avenue has rallied together, possibly impacting local businesses and food trucks. Punters may want to consider betting on a potential increase in sales for food trucks like Uncle Gussy's as they embody resilience and community support during this tough time.

Uncle Gussy’s is a food truck that’s been posted up at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan for more than 50 years, a staple for the men and women who pass through that office building and the crowded area around it every day.

It was a different kind of busy on Tuesday afternoon, the day after a gunman entered the building, which houses the headquarters of the NFL, and opened fire, killing four people and himself.

On a sweltering summer day, 345 Park was surrounded by cop cars and news vans, with national and local media on the scene. Police had blocked off an area of the building where a bullet had pierced a large glass window.

A few feet away, the bottom of a revolving glass door had also been hit. The police officer standing by the large window would turn every few minutes and stare at the bullet hole. The window hadn’t shattered, though it looked ready to collapse.

Passersby stopped to pull out their phones and snap photos of the scene. Some not-so-subtly kept their phones by their waist, recording videos as newscasters and cameramen shouted at them to get out of their live shots. Slowly, bouquets of flowers filled up a hand railing in view of the broken glass window — a few feet away from where Uncle Gussy’s was serving up Mediterranean food to police officers and cameramen looking for a lunch break.

One man stopped with some flowers, placed them on the ground, dropped his head and said a prayer under his breath. He shook his head in seeming disbelief as he walked away.

In front of the Bank of America chain attached to the office building, a large group wearing orange “Life Camp Inc” shirts gathered in a protest against gun violence. “One city. One mission. Let’s unite as one,” they chanted after a woman spoke about supporting individuals with mental health struggles.

When the chant finished, the crowd dispersed and for many, it was business as usual — even as the cameras and the cops remained.

The area is surrounded by a half dozen food trucks, like Uncle Gussy’s, whose employees admit they had a hard time bringing themselves to get back to work today — but they had to.

“We weren’t planning on being here,” said Hank, the cashier at Gussy’s who respectfully declined to disclose his last name. “But we’re a small business and we’ve got to survive.”

Hank said a friend in the NYPD called him on Monday night to make sure he and his coworkers were ok, which they were — Uncle Gussy’s typically closes shop around 4 pm, same as most of the food trucks on the block.

The gunman entered the building a little before 6:30. Hank checked on his friends in the area, including other food truck drivers, to make sure everyone was safe and they were.

But he dreaded the moment he turned on his TV to see the faces of the victims. He feared that he’d find a familiar face — there are a lot of them for a food truck driver in a busy area.

He considers the workers at 345 Park Ave co-workers. He doesn’t know all of their names, but he remembers their orders.

“We feed this building not every day but we have a customer base and it’s in that building,” Hank said. “I knew it would be hard to look at those faces and I did and it was like oh my god, I know that girl, she gets the chicken Greek salad. “It sucks. It’s heartbreaking.”

(Photo: Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images)

The day after a fatal shooting, police and media milled about while a food truck operator remembered a valued customer.

Theathleticuk