When he got to the coffee vendor's tent-like stall, he was the only customer.

In the mad rush from apartment to subway to the office, the coffee vendor's face is often the first face New Yorkers focus on every morning.

Armed with a license and a permit from the city's Health Department, coffee vendors can park their pushcarts anywhere in the city where vendors are allowed.

The coffee vendor outside the office who knows that you, a face in the lonely crowd, take milk, no sugar.

They spent several hours together and then, at 1 A.M., Juan Mendez, a coffee vendor, got ready for work.

This assessment may be in part due to the lesser frequency of proper barista training by many coffee vendors.

COST: Despite the fancy engineering, manufacturers and retailers say the dome lids cost a coffee vendor no more than the flat versions.

At a price of approximately $4,000 apiece, these machines cost about $500 more than conventional coffee vendors.

But no sane, well-adjusted human being cares to sit around and evaluate the performance of some beleaguered coffee vendor.