It is a lot of visitors in need of sustenance. So while vendors are adamant about not divulging details about what they make, most pushcart sites presumably turn a profit or they would not attract such high bids.

The annual fee some vendors offer to pay the city has doubled or even tripled in the past 10 years.

A decade ago, the fee paid for the pushcart at the Central Park Zoo entrance was $120,000, less than half what Mr. Mastafa paid most recently. The second most expensive cart is on the West Drive at West 67th Street near Tavern on the Green, where the fee is $266,850.

For many other parks, especially those in parks outside Manhattan, the fees are much lower — $14,000 in Astoria Park in Queens, $3,200 in Maria Hernandez Park in Brooklyn and $1,100 in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. The lowest fee, $700, is paid by the owner of a pushcart near the soccer fields in Inwood Hill Park in Upper Manhattan.

Elizendo Vaquero, 50, of the Bronx, has been selling there to soccer players on Sundays since 1989 (since 1997 with a permit).

“Everybody knows us here,” he said. “This is like family.”

He said he bids higher and higher each time it comes up for bid, but still earns $3,000 to $5,000 a year from his cart. “I don’t want to lose this spot, he said. “We have to pay the employee, the permit, everything. But at least we’re happy. We see everybody.”