The DOH temporarily closed McSorley's yesterday on Seventh Street near Cooper Square, as these photos by EVG reader Russell Kohn show...
The city has not yet posted yesterday's inspection online.
In 2011,
the city made McSorley's dust off the bar's famous wishbones, placed there some 100 years ago by doughboys headed off to war...(McSorley's also had to remove bar cat
Minnie McSorely.)
Given the bar's ample presidential paraphernalia, an inspection the day after Election Night seems curious.
Updated 4 p.m.
The inspection report still isn't online. (They had an A, with only two minuscule violation points following the last inspection in May.)
According to Gothamist, The Health Department's inspection yesterday "revealed several critical health hazards, including evidence of rat activity, food held at the wrong temperature, and conditions conducive to vermin and pest activity."
Bar owner Matthew Maher blamed the ongoing Cooper Square reconstruction for the rat mess.
Per
DNAinfo:
"There was a whole load of building equipment here, when the city opened up the pipes and all that, and they just took that away a couple of weeks ago, and that was a haven for rats," he said, noting he had seen the rodents scurrying around near the site during the restoration project from the city's Department of Design and Construction, which included tearing up the pavement in the plaza to install a new gas main.
When a health inspector came by unannounced on Wednesday afternoon, rat droppings were found throughout the basement, said Maher, who suspected the vermin got in when workers installing a new heating system weeks prior failed to shut the basement door on the sidewalk.
Updated 11/11
The report is now online.
There were 42 violation points. The main three violations:
1) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.
2) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility's food and/or non-food areas.
3) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas.
In the past two years, they've only had two violations points total.
