Friday, May 20, 2011

Ray's now 0-4 vs. the DOH this week

Despite visits from an exterminator and epic cleaning sessions, the DOH inspectors continue to find things to keep Ray's Candy Store from reopening. As Bob Arihood reports at Neither More Nor Less, an inspector returned to the Avenue A shop yesterday. Third fourth time this week; fifth different inspector (they sent two at once, uh, once), who are all motivated to find violations, naturally. After two hours, the inspector found a few mouse droppings as well as a restroom door that didn't close properly. As Bob writes: "This inquisition could go on forever and Ray's Candy Store will never open.

Bob has more thoughts on all this in another post. In part, he writes:

We have to say here that though we are aware that Ray is not without fault what this city is doing to him and to other small businesses is wrong. With this soulless ravenous beast of a city administration at the door of every small business regularly, few will survive.

Read the whole thing here.


Photo by Dave on 7th taken Monday morning before the first inspection.

13 comments:

  1. How is that Ray got a "B" in November and got closed in May, when I guarantee nothing changed. And, now that that the place is cleaner than ever and as sealed up as its ever been, he can't reopen. Insane.

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  2. I hope the people that still think this is just about the city being protective of the health of its citizens will take a closer look at what is going on here. If your eyes have been open at all at any time over the last few years, what they are now doing to Ray is anything but a surprise.

    Now the issue is that the bathroom door doesn't close properly? You can't make this up.

    What we love of this city has been relentlessly and systematically ripped out one piece at a time - this is just the most recent example of the runaway train that now cannot be stopped.

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  3. Grieve , there have been 4 inspections including 5 inspectors.

    there will be another today sometime .

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  4. Oops! Thanks Bob. My counting isn't so good.

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  5. This completely breaks my heart.

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  6. This is utterly shameful. JAZ is correct, this has gone beyond a simple inspection and has turned into a vendetta. The inspectors will stop coming only after they have shut Ray's down for good.

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  7. Payback for defying their original closure notice.

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  8. Yeah, Ray should have never defied that closure order because now they're not going to overlook anything like some of the inspectors have in the past. He's not getting a break at all. I don't know how he does it every day. If I were him, I would retire. He isn't making any more money from this business than he would on social security.

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  9. Because for Ray, to not work would be to perish.

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  10. Ray is a great guy and this is just sad. Makes me think of the scene in Cool Hand Luke where the bosses made him keep shoveling dirt. Shameful.

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  11. I don't think it is the work so much that Ray enjoys. The guy is tired and it is hard for him at his age to work like he does. What he likes is the social part of running a business. He loves seeing all of us. If he retires, we have to make sure to visit him and do things with him. Does Ray have any family? Maybe it is time he got a lady in his life. You're never too old for love. :)

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  12. That's only one of the ramifications of voting in successive administrations run by control freaks. And, like utter serfs, some of us allowed Bloomberg to violate and buy himself out of term-limits. Way to go NYC.

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  13. Ive said it before: The media outlets who don't cover the EVill should *never* have reported that he stayed open on Monday. Nice work guys.

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