February 25, 2007
Rats Attract Tourists, Questions about Health Inspections
You're in town for the weekend. You've seen the Statue of Liberty, eaten pizza at Lombardi's, and taken in the view from the Empire State Building? What else is there do to in New York? Why, see the KFC/Taco Bell rats of course! What could be a better Big Apple experience?
In a story that just keeps giving, the Times reports on how the rat-infested Sixth Avenue fast-food joint is drawing onlookers from near and far. One woman from Detroit says “We thought this was so exciting because it’s so nasty". Have you been? Gothamist wants to sell "I survived the 2007 Rat Invasion" t-shirts there this afternoon.
More importantly, questions are being raised on how the restaurant passed inspection just one day before it was shut down. To pass inspection a restaurant must have no more than 28 violation points on the Department of Health's inspection scale. The average score is 13 points. In December the restaurant was cited has having "evidence of live mice" and allegedly addressed the problem. WNBC reports the Health Department undertook another inspection on Thursday after three weeks of complaints. This time the restaurant passed with only 9 violation points. Hours later WNBC broadcast video of the cavorting rat colony.
In the understatement of the year, Health Department spokesman Geoffrey Cowley tells the Post "We're looking to see if the inspector dropped the ball on this." You think?
Friday's return inspection turned up evidence of rodent droppings, stagnant water on the floor, no heat, floor and ceiling holes, etc. adding up to a failing grade of 92 violation points. KFC/Taco Bell issued a statement that they are "totally focused on resolving the issue at this single restaurant," but the restaurant's owner, ADF Fifth Operating Corp. could not be reached for comment.
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Well, this is reassuring, if only to remind all non-New Yorkers that NYC is gritty!
And maybe KFC-Taco Bell can use a NYC rat as their mascot in the next round of commercials. "Even discerning New York City rodents love the taste of our chalupas."
I think the "attraction" to this story is seeing how large these rats are indoors and up close.
We usually see rats this size at night scurrying between garbage bags or on the subway tracks running.
And the filthy water stained floor don't help KFC/TB any. They definately need to work on cleaning that place up.
Seriously, I think you're onto something, Jen. Considering many of these gusy are about the size of a small chihuahua, I think they might as well embrace the incident staging a dual for their next ad campaign.
may I just say that the continuing coverage (especially as a tourist spectacle) has brought me great joy?
What's crazy about this is one day it gets 9 points, then a day later, it gets 92. What the fuck is wrong with the Health Department?
How about letting the tourists inside? Get a picture of yourself with genuine NYC rats! Heck, for a measly $5, we'll even let you take one back home as a souvenir!
Time to change the sign. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to New York City's newest attraction, the Sixth Avenue Petting Zoo. Watch your fingers and make sure you've had all your shots.
This is not as out of the ordinary as one might think. Rats will hide in places out of site until the staff leaves for the night. When all is quite, they hunt for food and leave droppings along the way. The morning crew would have been cleaning up droppings and throwing out contaminated and chewed on food and packages for weeks or months. The number of rats seen tell me that they have probably been covering up the infestation for at the very least a month or two. The main issue should be the entry points have not been sealed allowing the rats to come and go as they please. I can assure you all that this problem occured long before the video was captured. Management will cover up evidence of infestations to protect the brand name. Upper management is often slow to remedy structural concerns to save money. The pest control company is often saddled with ridding the building of rodents with little help as far as repairs to the structure ...Unless they end up in the spotlight as this location has.
I am a pest control tech, and I can certainly say this is something that happens more often than most of you would care to know. It should be evident by the fact that patrons of the KFC/Tacobell in question had no inkling, for the most part, that there was a rodent issue at the store and,in all probability, had been for an extended length of time.
To sum it up, I don't eat fast food very often. I see too much in my line of work to stomach it. What's on the other side of that service counter would make most people cringe.
Yeah, so, the day before this story broke, me and the CEO of my company had lunch at THE SAME PLACE. It was kinda creepy, and since our office is on Houston, right near 6th ave, we resolved to go to Chipotle from now on.
must be a helluva company if your CEO is eating out at Taco Bell and Chipotle.
this has got to be sabotoge from chipotle. It's like 4 dollar meal from taco bell or 9 dollar meal at chipotle. Rats = not taco bell.
++ Rats! In search of trans-fatty food!
hartsmartliving