By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — New York's billionaire mayor treated the British Prime Minister to a lavish welcome lunch on Wednesday — a $2 hot dog on a sidewalk near Penn Station surrounded by Secret Service.
David Cameron, who arrived at Penn Station from Washington, D.C. on his first official visit to the city as Prime Minister, was treated to the lunch after he admitted to Mayor Michael Bloomberg that he didn't have any cash.
The mayor dutifully paid the $4 tab for the dogs — the mayor's with mustard, the Prime Minister's plain — which the two ate over a friendly conversation on Eighth Avenue.
Bloomberg and Cameron seemed to get along well, casually laughing between bites as Cameron dodged questions about BP and the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi.
But Cameron was happy to share his thoughts on one thing: his first taste of the Big Apple.
"Very good! Fantastic hot dog. Lovely," Cameron said, giving his lunch a thumbs-up.
Cameron is in town to meet with U.S. business leaders as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the AP said, and the pair are expected to share a more lavish dinner when they meet again later tonight.
But unlike the Queen, who was greeted by crowds when she visited earlier this month, the small group of gathers outside of Penn Station was vastly outnumbered by secret service and police officers guarding the stand.
And many who stopped to find out what all the commotion was about didn't even know who Cameron was.
"Who?" asked a confused Laurie Christiansian, 51, who had just arrived from Utah.
"He's the Prime Minister," her mother, Karen Christiansian, 69, explained.
"I thought it was Gordon Brown," Laurie said, referring to Britain's ousted former leader, before adding: "Huh?"
San Francisco visitor Denise Wong's face filled with excitement when she heard Cameron's name.
"David Cameron?! From Avatar?! That's amazing!" she said, adding her son, Gavin, 11, had just watched the movie on the bus.
When she found out she'd confused the politician David Cameron with Avatar-director James Cameron, the 48-year-old's smile faded and she quickly took off.
But at least one person was excited for Cameron's arrival. Bangladesh-born hot dog vendor Abdus Salam, 41, said the pair's the most famous he's served in 17 years.
"I feel very good! The Prime Minister, he talked to me. He shook my hand," Salam said.
While he refused to say how much the mayor tipped for the $4 tab, he said it was definitely the highest tip he'd received all day.
"No comment," he said, smiling.
