Previously on EV Grieve:
DOH shutters Ray's Candy Store
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
More trouble for Ray's; additional $2k fine levied, food tossed
Previously on EV Grieve:
DOH shutters Ray's Candy Store
31 comments:
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Love Ray but he has to follow the rules. You can't just open up after the DOH closes you down. Now you have to pay a $2000 ticket and people are not going to be so into having a fundraiser to pay for a fine you could have avoided. We all try to help you Ray but we need you to help yourself and run your business professionally!
ReplyDeleteThey returned because someone ratted him out... why else would they go back.
ReplyDeleteI will contribute some cash to Ray to help pay this fine. As will others who have a real heart.
He might get it reduced as well with some pro bono legal help.
We're with ya Ray!
Agreed. It fuckin sucks but for him to stay open during the DOH order is obnoxious and retarded.
ReplyDeleteHe shouldn't have opened again. That was plain stupid. I know people want to make him the victim. But the DOH checks on all restaurants and food stands regularly. Keeping up with hygiene standards is part of doing business. As someone who has worked in a few EV restaurants I can tell you if there wasn't the threat of DOH inspection these places would be even more lax in their cleaning and food prep. Ray has to follow the rules like everyone else who runs a business. It isn't difficult.
ReplyDeleteRay could definitely have negotitiated down the fines if he just showed the judge what he did to rectify the problems but violating the order by re-opening is just suicide.
ReplyDeleteUgh...it is so disheartening for everyone who has donated money to the cause. I am not donating money for a fine that could have been avoided. This is so frustrating!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to donate. Ray's a great guy and I'm guessing only stayed open out of desperation. Let's not start an anti-Ray bandwagon just because he broke a rule. Sometimes rules are for fools.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Shawn on this one. Where can I donate? And yes it was stupid of Ray to re-open, but if he runs that close to the bone that closing one day means he might not be able to make his rent, well then he would have been in a whole different boatload of legal issues. Who amongst us lives that precariously, where one day lost might mean total ruin, that we can afford to sit in judgment on Ray? Can you imagine the stress he labors with as he tries to make enough money to survive, one hot dog at a time?
ReplyDeleteMr Ray has little margin of error with the business. He must stay open to survive. DOH cronies only returned when they read the story on an online news outlet. Poor news judgement to cause financial harm to an institution that we depend upon.
ReplyDelete@Mrty - your comment posted just as I was sending mine in, so I'm with Shawn AND you too on this one! Great minds...
ReplyDelete"Sometimes rules are for fools."
ReplyDeleteI see that and raise you, "If you play you have to pay."
I love my Ray. But we can't have a double standard. If one of the new yuppie EV restaurants had a mouse problem and got shut down by the DOH and ignored the notice and reopened that day, this blog would go after them and we'd all be ripping them a new one at the next community board meeting, and we all know it. We aren't helping Ray by encouraging him not to operate his business the way he should. He has to follow the rules and he has to charge higher prices.
ReplyDelete@Kurt: I'll raise you and add one Ray. Tell me where to donate and I will. I'll happily eat a hot dog there no matter what the DOH says.
ReplyDelete@Lisa: Thanks, we think alike!
poor ray. he is obviously being attacked and harassesd. i've seen a lot of anti-ray comments, to me it seems really evident that some bored, miserable loser is out to get him and is sicking the DOH on him repeatedly. i would bet money that this was on the back of annonymous complaints. just sayin.. next time i pass by i'm throwing $20 in his tip jar!
ReplyDelete@anon 12:21 - totally agree. I want Ray to succeed - he deserves to! But I also think it's important not to create double standards.
ReplyDelete"Tell me where to donate and I will."
ReplyDeleteLike glamma wrote, give directly to Ray. What's the big mystery?
I can't say I haven't wondered about the store's hygiene....when a guy with no teeth is serving the food
ReplyDeleteI support Ray, but I only buy packaged goods in his store these days. I used to be a frozen yogurt fanatic, but I just don't trust that the machines are properly maintained. I hate feeling this way, but I do.
ReplyDeleteWell, I know that Rys IS terrified to lose even one day of business..He needs every cent he could get at this point. If a fancy place got shut down and illegally opened again, I would not sympathize with them as I do with Ray..simply because I know him, love him..and know that he really needs some income at this point.
ReplyDeletethis is bloomberg's way of sanitizing nyc, suburbanizing her, since the joneses are here; cleaning up the city via vongerichtification
ReplyDeleteI know Ray is eligible for social security now that he proved his citizenship. Maybe it would be best for him to start collecting and get into senior housing. It just seems like this business costs him money. It isn't a moneymaking business and poor Ray isn't up to turning things around. This stress can't be good for him.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is time for a ray in where folks can fill the bucket and maybe some food tech might lend a hand
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it didn't help that Gothamist broadcasted that he was going to stay open despite the closure.
ReplyDeleteray's forever! i will be donating! and eating there asap!
ReplyDeleteGothamist wrote that? What dicks! That site is lame.
ReplyDelete@Eden, Gothamist picked up the story from DNAInfo.com. It's the age of the internet. There aren't a lot of secrets and Ray naively gave quotes telling DNAInfo that he was going to stay open despite the notice.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dnainfo.com/20110516/lower-east-side-east-village/rays-candy-store-stays-open-despite-order-by-health-department
You can't blame Gothamist. After the DOH issues a violation they send inspectors back out on patrol to make sure the closure notice isn't being violated. It is worth it for them to enforce it because they can get a whole lotta dough in fines.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line is, there's a double standard here. This guy Ray was making fries without a fire dept approved hood and ansil system for years . When he was fined told to stop, he ignored the request and kept right on doing as he pleased. HIS POCKET WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE BUILDING! Can anyone say 'grease fire?' Does anyone get how incredibly dangerous that was . It shows utter lack of respect and disregard for the people who live here in the EV . If a landlord ever put his pocket ahead of the safety of his tenants he'd be strung up and hung. 99pct of the time I'm on the side of the people on this site. But this time you guys are just wrong. It's not cool to put the health and safety of me or my loved ones at risk because you're not willing to put in the time/money to do things properly. Geez, the DOH gives you 3 chances to get your act together. After you fail they basically give you the reasons and show you how to correct the mistakes. They DON'T want to close you. They're average Joe's just like us. If anything, they'd throw a guy like Ray a break. C'mon folks, wake up.
ReplyDeleteWell said, anon 7:51 p.m. You make an important point and you made me rethink my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:51 is right on. Ray and his store are great, but putting the health and well-being of other people at risk is not cool.
ReplyDeleteDefiance of a basic DOH rule is wrong. He's not a hero for this.
ReplyDelete