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New York City officials yesterday proudly unveiled their latest offering to residents - a free, 'public health' vending machine dishing out crack pipes, the overdose-reversing drug Narcan and fentanyl test strips.

New York City installed a vending machine that dispenses free crack pipes, fentanyl test strips, Narcan (an overdose reversal drug) and condoms. Public health officials unveiled the machine on Monday in Brooklyn at 1676 Broadway, ABC7 New York reported. Less than 24 hours after its installation the machine was empty, according to the New York Post. The machine cost the city $11,000 to install, and it also offers residents free COVID-19 testing, feminine sanitation products, hygiene kits, Vitamin C, and first aid kits. Residents must simply enter their zip code to gain access.

A group of students at Boston University has brought a vending machine to campus that dispenses Plan B at a lower cost for students, NBC Boston reported. Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, is a form emergency contraception that can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or when another birth control method might’ve failed. The vending machine, one of the first of its kind in the country, is located in the basement of the student union on Boston University's campus, NBC Boston reported. Instead of snacks, the machine is stocked with a generic version of Plan B (levonorgestrel) sold...

YOU can now eat gourmet vending machine food. No longer limited to packets of chips and a can of coke, machines around the world now dispense farm-fresh produce, caviar, and even bottles of Moet. And if you’ve got a bit of extra cash to throw around, why not buy some gold ... or even a brand new Ferrari from a vending machine? Here are our favourites. Champagne Location: Gold Coast, Las Vegas, and Selfridges in London. What you get: The Star Gold Coast’s Garden Kitchen & Bar is the first venue in Australia with a champagne vending machine by Moet...

Some of the reasons Japan loves vending machines have nothing to do with an aging society of love of robots. Video series Vox Borders recently came to Tokyo, taking a look at aspects of everyday life in Japan. Something that caught host Johnny Harris’ eye, as with many new arrivals to the capital, is the incredible number of vending machines to be found in Japan. The purpose of vending machines is pretty self-explanatory (to sell things), but Harris wondered why Japan has so many, and seeks to answer that question in the straightforwardly titled video “Why Japan has so many...

SAN FRANCISCO (CNNMoney) -- Sally doesn't clean, chop or toss vegetables. The new salad robot making its debut in San Francisco this month is more like a salad vending machine: Press a few buttons on a touchscreen and it drops neat portions of refrigerated ingredients into a bowl. But Sally the Salad Robot could be the latest step in automating some of the more repetitive parts of food preparation. Its creators hope food robots can help with one of Silicon Valley's biggest restaurant problems: a shortage of kitchen workers. Sally is the first product from Chowbotics, a Redwood City startup...

Merced Sanchez, 56, became a street vendor in Los Angeles after her storefront burned down about 10 years ago. Among the city’s street vendors—who famously provide bacon-wrapped hot dogs, chili-powdered fresh fruit, and frozen ices known as paletas to the hungry passerby—Sanchez makes her living selling clothes and hats. She says her work in Los Angeles’ downtown Piñata district isn’t easy: “You suffer from the heat, the cold, the rain.” And then there’s the police. The problem for Sanchez, and the roughly 50,000 other street vendors here, is that Los Angeles is the only major city in the United States...

A proposal to decriminalize sidewalk vending in Los Angeles is scheduled to be taken up next month, prompted by concerns that people who are in the country illegally and convicted of misdemeanors for street peddling could be deported when Donald Trump assumes the presidency. The plan, which has been in the works for more than a year, would remove criminal penalties for vending. In addition, the proposal would make it so that vendors seeking a permit would no longer be asked about their immigration or citizenship status. Council members Curren Price and Joe Buscaino announced the proposed policy, stating that...

WATCH | This vending machine company hopes to reduce the feral cat population by making cat adoptions available 24/7.

GREENVALE, NY -- During the weekend leading up to the second presidential debate on Oct. 9, Donald J. Trump was ahead of Hillary Clinton by six points, according to polling at Face Place photobooths. While these results might be counter to most news media polls, which show the Democrat ahead of her Republican rival, Apple Industries, the manufacturer of Face Place, says Clinton is now closing the gap. Photobooths enabled with the election option (free to operators) offer patrons a choice of having their visages composited with their choice of major-party candidates for president in this year's race. The informal...

Would you rather wait for the deliveryman to drive across town with your once hot pizza or snatch it out of a vending machine after its heated for several minutes and delivered to you immediately? The insanely popular Pizza ATM first came to life this summer at Ohio's Xavier University, answering the prayers of college students everywhere. Until now, it had been the the first Pizza ATM in North America. But thanks to one company in Florida, we could see more pizza vending machines nationwide....

I’m shocked by one aspect of the story of the guy selling $30 hot dogs to tourists near the World Trade Center — shocked that he was fired. Who knew hot-dog men could be fired? As for that other detail — selling a hot dog for considerably “more than it’s worth,” so what? Apple makes a huge profit on every device it sells. Does anyone think Apple is guilty of “price gouging”? Moreover, a hot dog is guaranteed not to shatter when it falls on the sidewalk, and I’ve never had to reboot my sauerkraut. No hot dog has ever...

In a pilot program designed to reduce GHG emissions and safety risks and provide better clean food preparation in mobile food vending, the Big Apple will be home to the next generation of eco-friendly food carts.Food carts, while being convenient for consumers and a good small business venture for foodies and entrepreneurs, are also a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution, as well as being potential public safety hazards from their onboard propane tanks. And in a metropolis like New York City, with some 8000 mobile food carts on the streets, the environmental and health effects of...

Amazon.com, a leader in the world of online retailing, is making waves due to the recent launch of Amazon Business, a new marketplace on Amazon.com that combines the selection, convenience and value with new features and unique benefits tailored to businesses. It was one of the reasons Amazon had a booth at the NAMA OneShow last week in Las Vegas, NV. I stopped in while walking the show and talked to the representatives. They were announcing the Amazon Business opportunity and gauging the interest from operators. From what I’ve seen so far, while Amazon Business is in its early stages,...

A pizza vending machine takes convenience food to a whole new level, delivering fresh pies to customers in just three minutes 24/7. The Let's Pizza unit invented by Claudio Torghele, an entrepreneur from Rovereto, Italy, mixes flour and water together and presses the dough flat to create a 10.5 inch base. Desired toppings are then added and the meal is flash-cooked in a high temperature infrared oven at 380 degrees Celsius. While the baking process is underway, a takeaway box is prepared. The finished pie is then placed in the cardboard container and delivered through a slot. As they wait...

WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) - A $3 cup of shave ice is at the center of a dispute in this beach town between street vendors trying to stay in business and town officials who say the vendors cause traffic congestion and increase the potential for accidents. George Manko sells Hawaiian shave ice in a private parking lot for beachgoers in Westerly, where celebrities including Taylor Swift and Conan O'Brien have summer homes. The town recently banned street vendors, except for at festivals and one-time events. Town councilors who supported the ban said they did so because the police chief expressed safety...

News broke today that Sprinkles Cupcakes will install New York City's first 24-hour cupcake ATM at its Upper East Side location next week. The unit has a 760 cupcake capacity and can dispense up to four sweet treats at a time. That's pretty cool—but not as cool as a vending machine that makes fresh pizza in under three minutes. Behold Let's Pizza:(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Invented by entrepreneur Claudio Torghele, Let's Pizza machines were initially designed and manufactured in Northern Italy. Customers choose between up to four kinds of pies, and watch through windows as the machine adds water to flour, kneads the dough,...

<p>The future could be lurking in a corner of a 24-hour Mobil station on Santa Monica Boulevard. At least that's the first location of the new burrito vending machine, BurritoBox, which seems like a legit (though probably misguided) enterprise and not a hoax. An intrepid Reddit user claims to have tried the thing and describes it as "like a gourmet frozen burrito without the s****y texture you get from the microwave." Details on the website are scarce, but per an Instagram video it appears that the machine dispenses Evol burritos in flavors like chicken and rice, shredded beef, and bacon, egg, and cheese. Add-ons like sour cream and guacamole come in separate containers, implying that the burritos are pre-made -- so in actuality it might be more like a really big, orange microwave.</p>

AVT, Inc. (OTC Markets: AVTC) (www.autoretail.com), a leader in custom vending machines, business opportunities, and kiosks, commented today on a research report that predicted over 35,000 Micromarket locations within the decade. The study, written by noted market research company Bachtelle and Associates, and published in Vending Times Magazine, said that this is a "new channel" and is "driving more sales, pleasing customers and exciting our industry." "We predict that there will be 13,000 Micromarkets on location by 2015, and 35,000 within a decade," Brad Bachtelle stated. AVT is a leader in Micromarket design and development. From their unique UShop systems,...

Late-night cravings for pizza may soon be satisfied not by all-night delivery, but by this huge vending machine. Invented by Italians and just now arriving on our fair shores, the Let's Pizza machine actually creates the pizza more or less from scratch, and then bakes it as you watch. The future is here, and it's a bit carb-heavy. Unlike the frozen and reheated affairs you're likely to find at a 7-11, this pizza is actually created when you order it, from "fresh" ingredients. The dough is mixed and flattened, the sauce spread, the cheese and toppings sprinkled. Some items are...