To study emissions from mobile food carts in New York City, investigators sampled the air quality around 19 food carts which used propane, charcoal, or a combination of propane and charcoal as cooking fuels. Food cart emissions were compared to air sampling at control sites located upwind and at least 100 meters away from the food carts under study. The study data includes real-time concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC2.5), and particle counts collected over the course of an hour simultaneously at food carts and control sites for 13 of the 19 pairs. For the other 6 food carts, samples at control sites were collected 1 hour prior or after food cart sampling. Filter-based measurements identified trace elements in the composition of PM2.5, including potassium, aluminum, calcium, iron, and silicon (see Table 2 in the Associated Publication for the complete list).