The state of Texas is the leading producer of beef. Although the bill’s language acknowledges New York origins of the cut — “The New York strip steak is named for New York City, where it was popularized in local steakhouses” — Texas is moving toward scrubbing that history by renaming the cut for where the cattle is raised as opposed to the place that made the cut famous.
At the moment it appears the new law would request but not require that privately owned Texas restaurants and even grocery stores reflect the amended name on menus and labels.
In response, select New Yorkers are mobilizing — including members of the New York State Assembly Al Taylor of the 71st District representing Upper Manhattan, and Rebecca Seawright of the 76th District representing the Upper East Side. On Friday, a group announced plans to travel to the Texas Capitol to “confront lawmakers and demand the repeal of the resolution — calling it a full-scale battle between the two states over culinary identity and cultural pride,” according to a statement.
“New Yorkers believe in truth in advertising. Whether it involves the history of food or the history of our states, renaming is an attempt to rewrite history,” says Seawright.
Power publicist Todd Shapiro and friend of Mayor Eric Adams — who’s also an owner of the Albany War Room Tavern — says he intends to file a lawsuit against the state of Texas for $1 million. He alleges that the rebranding of the New York strip “infringes upon New York’s cultural heritage and poses economic harm to businesses that rely on the recognition and popularity of the New York strip steak.”
Shapiro is also behind a Friday afternoon press conference at Empire Steak in Midtown (151 E. 50th Street at Third Avenue) where he’ll harness outrage over the potential renaming of the New York strip.
According to Shapiro, the renaming is a “dishonest, disrespectful, and economically damaging attack on New York’s legacy,” with the cut “immortalized” by the country’s oldest steakhouse, the 188-year-old Delmonico’s in Fidi.
Shapiro argues that the fight is about more than steak. “It’s about New York versus Texas,” he says.
The whole thing started last month, with Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick leading the cause to rename New York strip steak as “Texas strip” in his state. “Liberal New York shouldn’t get the credit for our hard-working ranchers,” he wrote, citing that Texas leads the nation in beef production.
Patrick’s proposal was spawned by a meeting with the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, according to USA Today.
It didn’t have to go this way. In late March, Sid Miller, the commissioner for the Texas Department of Agriculture, suggested spotlighting a different cut rather than rewriting history.
“Now, whether it’s renaming the New York Strip to the more fitting ‘Texas strip’ or declaring the tomahawk rib-eye as our premier cut, one thing is sure — we need to decide,” he wrote on the website.
The in-between-the-lines from Texas is that it’s less about the Empire State versus the Lone Star State than how climate change and President Trump’s tariffs are hitting cattle ranchers.
“Given challenges like drought, natural disasters, trade disruptions, and economic uncertainty,” reads Miller’s statement, “our ranchers need more than just a pat on the back. This is more than branding a steak; it’s about standing with the men and women who keep Texas fed, fueled, and thriving.”
Before Trump’s 145 percent tariffs on China, Texas was the largest exporter of goods to the country, according to CBS News, with Beijing importing $25.7 billion worth of products from the Lone Star State in 2023. In 2024, the U.S. exported $1.6 billion worth of beef to China, making it the third-largest export destination for American beef, according to the USDA.
In response to the Trump tariffs, China has imposed a reciprocal 147 percent tariff on U.S. beef and beef variety meats, “rendering American beef exports to China economically unfeasible.”
In addition, Politico reports the Chinese government has halted or curtailed direct imports of major U.S. commodities including beef, by means of bureaucratic blocking. The result is that even if tariffs are dialed back, “they provide Beijing added firepower in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war by targeting exports from Trump-friendly, deep-red states,” by adding a more permanent barrier to trade than tariffs.
Meanwhile, rather than fight tariffs and Trump policies that are hurting the state economy, Texas lawmakers are putting a thumb in the eye of New York, but New Yorkers are unfazed.
“I didn’t even know this was happening,” says David DiSalvo of Bowery Meat Company in the East Village, who sources the restaurant’s beef from colder-climate states like Washington, the Dakotas, Kansas, and Nebraska. “I think we’re a lot bigger than Texas in many ways.”
