Open Thread Wednesday 1/19/11

By on January 19, 2011 10:12 am in Brooklyn Heights

Hey! It’s Wednesday! Comment away!

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  • Winstion Smith

    Warning!
    Montague Bagel racked up a whopping 62 points in their 1/13/11 Department of Health inspection. They currently have a grade pending. The city website prevents a posting direct link, so here is the closest: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchBrowse.do

    Enter the business name: HOT BAGEL & DELI

    and the zip: 11201

    Here is a copy of the info:

    Violations from 01/13/2011 Inspection
    Tip! “Critical” violations are displayed in red (1-7 are in red).

    Violation points: 62

    Violations were cited in the following area(s).

    Sanitary Violations
    1) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F.
    2) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.
    3) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.
    4) Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.
    5) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
    6) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
    7) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
    8) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.
    9) Toilet facility not maintained and provided with toilet paper, waste receptacle and self-closing door.
    10) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
    11) Accurate thermometer not provided in refrigerated or hot holding equipment.
    12) Proper sanitization not provided for utensil ware washing operation.

  • carl

    I SPOKE TO THE MANAGER OF KEY FOOD TODAY regarding the odor. He said, Yes they became aware of the situation. They had to replace the whole floor beneath the “chicken” refrigeration unit – took them two days. THE SITUATION HAS BEEN CORRECTED. In the future, if you have a problem like that management is usually eager to hear about it and solve the situation.

  • carl

    I spoke to the manager of Key Food today regarding the odor. He said, Yes they became aware of the situation. They had to replace the whole floor beneath the “chicken” refrigeration unit – took them two days. The situation is being corrected In the future, if you have a problem like that management is usually eager to hear about it and solve the situation.

  • weegee

    13) Looking befuddled when customers order “Da Gooch,” despite it being an established menu item for years.

  • Monty

    I assume you’ve all heard the news about the mass roundup of the mafia across NY, NJ and elsewhere. Evidently AG Holder announced it from Downtown Brooklyn. Was it the US Attorney’s office? Did anyone notice a cavalcade of SUVs this morning?

  • Arch Stanton

    Yeah I’ll bet most of the morning chopper activity was related to the arrests… perfectly legitimate reason aye, or do we still need that Whambulance?

  • David on Middagh

    /wishing there were an “ignore” button for the word “whambulance”.

  • Bornhere

    Absolutely with David on that point — it was only slightly amusing the first 5000 or 6000 times it was used. Years ago. (And if “LOL” could follow, that would be nice, too.)

  • Andrew Porter

    The other day I saw a family on the Promenade, assumed they were tourists, but they weren’t. Didn’t get the name, but the man is the new pastor at the German Zion Lutheran Church on Henry Street. He speaks German and comes from South Africa. He, his wife and young son and daughter should be a worthy addition to BH.

    Oh, and about framing: think local. Why would anyone go to Coney Island Avenue to have something framed, when there are wonderful places, such as Jubilee, which has been in the neighborhood for 40 years, or Montague Framing, or others, to deal with?

  • redbaron

    Which dairy section is everyone talking about in Key Food–the milk area, the “fancy” cheese area, or the sour cream/cottage cheese/packaged cheese area???

  • bklyn20

    Red Baron. it’s near the front end (nearer Montague Street) by the non-fancy cheese and possibly even nearer the ice cream. Or that’s where I smell it.

  • cat

    Why doesn’t someone just ask the manager or call the health dept. re: the smell in Key Food? Apparently it’s not emanating from a person, so there must be something seriously wrong/dead in there.

    @north heights res: Sorry for your horrible experience with the Shell station. Why oh why does AAA keep them on the list? And by the way, who did you call in the end who provided good service?

    Homer, maybe BHB could keep a list of more reputable service providers so we don’t have to hunt through old posts to find recommendations?

  • Eddy de Lectron

    AAA ain’t what it use to be. I took a cross country road trip in 09. I had current AAA maps and guide books. I found them to be filled with erroneous, inaccurate and out of date information…
    AAA no good.

  • north heights res

    Cat, it was a service that Urban Classics recommended; I don’t have the name and number with me, but I can post it later. They charged $60 for the tow and were quick and efficient. Urban Classics is doing the actual repairs.

  • nabeguy

    AAA has devolved into being the AARP for car owners. Quite a shame, given their past reputation and the need for a 21st century incarnation based on the the services they provide. Unfortunately, they seem to have lost touch to the point that they think GPS stands for Geriatric Preservation System.

  • Jorale-man

    One wonders how downhill Key Foods will slide before the ownership decides it’s time to shape things up there. Between the dinginess of the stores and the rude or apathetic cashiers, it really does not live up to the needs of the neighborhood. That’s why people are willing to endure long lines at Trader Joe’s – at least there the staff is polite and the place has been cleaned the night before.

  • T.K. Small

    Below is a link to a good article concerning the lack of meaningful local government in Brooklyn. Part of the argument is that there is not an independent-borough wide daily newspaper to hold politicians accountable. This is where Homer and the other Brooklyn Heights Blog contributors are filling an important void.

    http://tinyurl.com/nyt-powerless-in-Brooklyn

  • BookLover

    I was wondering if there are any book clubs that meet once a month or so in the neighborhood. I can’t seem to find any, or maybe, I dont know where to look

  • bklyn20

    I was in Key Food (Montague Street) earlier this evening and the armpit smell seems to have left the dairy aisle. I live in hope.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    Regarding the earlier discussion of the use of the term “waambulance” (I believe that was the original spelling), I can think of one good use for it: a psychoterapist who is overly aggressive in seeking clients could be called a “waambulance chaser”.

  • David on Middagh

    @BookLover: If you’re willing to step into Cobble Hill, BookCourt has a reading club. I believe FreeBird Books (123 Columbia St., between Kane & Degraw in the Columbia St. Waterfront District) still has their apocalyptic book club (SF). Both bookstores will notify you of events via email.

  • David on Middagh

    @Claude: Every time someone repeats *that word*, I need a drink. Which is *my* “waambulance chaser”.

  • Arch Stanton

    Here ya go David have a drink on me,

    Waambulance

  • Arch Stanton

    @ Jorale-man,
    I feel lucky to have Key Food so close to home. I shop there at least 4 times a week and rarely have a problem. Stop whining, buy your groceries, go home and shut up… why do you care if the cashers are are grumpy at times, you might be too if worked for the pay they do and had to put up with obnoxious jerks like you.

  • Jorale-man

    @Arch
    Perhaps you just got out on the wrong side of bed this morning – I don’t know. But it’s unfortunate that you have to resort to name calling and nastiness just because you encounter someone whose opinions are different than your own. It lowers the whole level of discourse on what is normally be a very civil blog by Internet standards.

    Then again, maybe you’ve been spending a little too much time around the crappy cashiers at Key Foods.

  • Jorale-man

    “crabby,” that should read…

  • David on Middagh

    Sometimes I think modern cashiering is a kind of sweatshop work, where the employees have one highly specialized, repetitive job they do for their whole shift, and are expected to keep up the pace.

    It’s hard to keep up the pace hour after hour, day after day, year after year, and still make eye contact, smile, say “Hello!”…especially when so many of your customers are just trying to get through a line. A long time ago I worked both behind an electronics counter (hitting the register after talking with the customer and making the sale), and also exclusively at check-out. The two are night and day.

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