Monday, January 16, 2012

Flyer campaign against Bar Veloce

evflip spotted these flyers along Second Avenue... from someone making allegations against the Bar Veloce management...


We sent an email to the "boycottveloce" account to learn more about this...

at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 11:10 AM

    As a former employee of these venues I can do nothing. It thank the owners for their direction in my profession. As I am about to attain my Diploma from the WSET and then go for my Master of Wine, one of my first wine jobs was with this company. They are good honest people. Yes they are a business and they are about the bottom line. No they don't want to pay overtime, no resteraunt does! But they make up for it in many ways.
    I'm sorry you lost your favorite bartenders and now don't want to visit these places but your anger is misplaced. All bartenders move on because it's generally not a career in itself. Food and service fluctuate as staff turn over. These places are well established and run by smart polls and will get back up to their normal level.
    Starting a guerilla campaign against a business with a few opinionated second hand info is about the last thing that is going to change a single policy with these people's business practices. All this is is venting.
    It's not my place to say your wrong to do or shouldn't have done this but you clearly don't really know HOW they get paid and if they REALLY take tips. You just heard it...no details. This is how rumors start.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 11:11 AM

    I have been doing business with the owner of Bar Veloce and Bar Carerra for over 20 years and this owner is without a doubt the hardest working, most honest and straightforward businessman/operator I have ever run into (and I work with a lot of them). Change in general is tough, especially on those who have become used to their “regular place”. The change of format and size of Veloce (and loss of Carrera) has no doubt been upsetting for some. But it is unfair to take a snapshot of one tiny group's discontent and make broad-brush negative comments/inferences about the owner's character or intentions. The owner of any business makes an enormous investment and takes huge financial and creative risks. The commentary in the fliers is easy for someone who is aggrieved to post but so very hurtful and detrimental to someone who has worked so hard and puts his savings and life's blood into his projects. No doubt the employees are upset and from their perspective they have been injured. But there is likely far more here than meets the eye. Readers should know far more about “what’s going on behind the scenes" before leaping to judgment based on the say so of a small group of upset folks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 11:38 AM

    Whoever is involved in this better have money to pay their lawyers' fees when Bar Veloce sues for libel and defamation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 2:36 PM

    @Anons

    Basically you're saying that the Veloce owner has been good to you personally, therefore who cares if he/she's screwing their employees. In fact, the 1st anon seems to have inadvertently confirmed that Veloce doesn't pay overtime, but "makes it up" in other ways.

    Labor laws require employers to pay overtime. Restauranteurs are some of the worst offenders. Owners "sharing" in tips is illegal. It's wage theft, plain and simple. Do you think that when I leave a tip I intend for it to make it's way into the owners pockets? You're not just stealing from the employees, you're stealing from the customers as well.

    The labor laws have strict record keeping requirements, and if you actually comply with them and pay your required overtime, you will get any failure to pay overtime suit against you dismissed immediately.

    To the anon sabre-rattling about libel and defamation, I would be shocked if you aren't connected to ownership in someway. Defamation claims are the exclusive purview of the rich, and are typically used to bully people who don't have a lot of money into submission. Truth is a defense to defamation. So is clearly stating the basis for your belief, which renders your statements inactionable "opinion". Countersuing employees who have legitimate employment claims for defamation is a common tactic, and it almost never works because the lawyers on both sides and the judge know it's a bs attempt at a counter-punch rather than a legitimate legal maneuver.

    ReplyDelete
  5. glammaJanuary 17, 2012 at 1:20 PM

    sorry to hear this. i was a fan of this place. hope they can make it right with their staff, those guys were great

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 27, 2012 at 10:13 PM

    That makes sense now, WOW and i used to love this place
    I was wondering why there had been so many new faces.
    Well i say shame on them
    There are about twenty thousand restaurants in new york city and only a few hundred have been sued by their employees for these shameful practices . That means there are 19,700 business owners out there doing things the legal and moral way. They are the ones that we should be supporting. I say shame on anyone that takes from their employees and shame on anyone that supports them. There are plenty of great wine bars in nyc that don't support these practices, lets support them

    ReplyDelete

Your remarks and lively debates are welcome, whether supportive or critical of the views herein. Your articulate, well-informed remarks that are relevant to an article are welcome.

However, commentary that is intended to "flame" or attack, that contains violence, racist comments and potential libel will not be published. Facts are helpful.

If you'd like to make personal attacks and libelous claims against people and businesses, then you may do so on your own social media accounts. Also, comments predicting when a new business will close ("I give it six weeks") will not be approved.