Neither more nor less

We don't care much one way or the other about dance parades ,yuppie or otherwise.We were pissed though that because of the dance parade , the bus to the Rapture in Union Square wasn't stopping on avenue A.

Sometime between 2Pm and 3PM Friday afternoon an inspector from the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene lifted the closure order from Ray's Candy Store . Ray is "legally "open for business . Now all Ray has to do is pay the thousands in fines .

Friday at 11:15 AM at Ray's Candy Store , Maria was scrubbing and Ray was vacuuming .Ray had been cleaning throughout the night and had already been downtown . His cabby friend had early this morning delivered Ray to the maw of the beast at 253 Broadway .
 Ray claimed that he was informed that today would be his last chance . He was told that if he fails this afternoon's inspection he will be considered as incompetent to clean his own store .The Dept . of Health and Mental Hygiene will then of necessity require that Ray engage professional cleaners to clean his store and remove all violations . We don't know at this time if this means expensive  major renovations and new equipment too . More later this afternoon.

We've noticed that for each inspection there is always a different inspector . We would expect that each inspector would see the situation a bit differently , find different violations , and as we all know there's always something ...right? If more different inspectors , who are each  of course motivated to find violations , come to Ray's more of those somethings will be found , arbitrarily new violations will be found . This inquisition could go on forever and Ray's Candy Store will never open ...

 Ray had been cleaning all night long . As we approached Ray's front window around noon he was busy explaining to an employee that she still need not come to work .She had called because she needs to work , she needs the money .

Earlier a cabby friend had taken Ray downtown to 253 Broadway to the Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene . Ray believed that the mouse report in his hand ,received from the exterminator the day before , was all the documentation that he needed . Wrong , he was told . He needs a receipt from an exterminator for a total pest treatment , proof that spraying  and all other anti-pest treatments had been performed . All time and travel this morning a waste for Ray,

The inspection performed yesterday according to Ray produced even more violations than the first inspection .There will be another inspection tomorrow. God only knows how many more and when after that .No way of knowing today when Ray will again be legally open for business .

According to Ray , he will have to appear before an administrative judge May 31 ,June 28 and July 1 . Right now its not at all clear how much Ray will have to pay in fines  but the sum will without doubt amount to several thousands of dollars .

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 . This is not the way of  responsible , accountable , good and just government Mr. Mayor !
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Diane's charitable ministry had just fed a couple of hundred folks in Tompkins Square Park. Her team of volunteers was packing up tents , tables , leftovers and other paraphernalia  ,when in the middle of avenue A red lights began flashing .

Jewels was  exposing himself again .The red lights dimmed as Diane approached Jewels . 2 cops from the patrol car approached Jewels from the opposite direction . Diane told Jewels that he was an asshole and then , clearly angered , mentioned something to him about being annoyed by having to witness a man with a small penis .The cops told Jewels  to pull up his pants , walk to the sidewalk and sit down .

Out front of Ray's closed candy store the cops made it clear that they didn't want to be bothered with the boy wonder of avenue A .They lectured Jewels a bit  about proper behavior , after all there are children on the avenue , but  did not cuff him or even write him a summons . Jewels later claimed that the cops had told him  , as they looked him straight in the face ,  that the next time they caught him with his pants down they would just beat him to death .

Yes , bad news for Ray. All that day long and night long cleaning and mouse turd hunting wasn't sufficient . Wednesday afternoon  an inspector from Health and Mental Hygiene  found more of those little brown bits of small furry mammal excreta  that we are all so familiar with .
Dutifully then , we bide our time waiting  the day the door at 113 avenue A again opens "legally" to welcome and serve mankind.

It was so simple yesterday for Ray to decide to remain open for business after receiving a closure notice from the Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene . Ray needed to fill his cash box . Business had to be done so that he could pay his bills. The decision was simple . The consequences of this decision  weren't so simple though . The consequences were quite costly ... and humbling too .

At 1:30 AM Tuesday morning with some help from his friends Ray was busy  scrubbing , scouring and scraping as well as looking for any undiscovered mouse excreta. Ray's team worked through the night cleaning and inspecting .A daunting nightlong endeavor and Tuesday morning at 10 AM Ray , on his way to bed , looked to be exhausted .

Tuesday the exterminator will arrive , inspect and exterminate . Later Ray will sign a contract with the exterminator and the exterminator will produce a report of corrected conditions at Ray's candy Store . The inspector from the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene will return on Wednesday to perform a final inspection .

If Ray's Candy Store passes this inspection Ray will as soon as possible make an appearance downtown before a judge . If he has the money he will pay a fine totalling in excess of $3000 . Finally the closure notice will be  removed .

So said Ray , referring to city inspectors, Monday night as he was cleaning and correcting violations in his little candy store at 113 Avenue A.This day Ray had received not only a series of violations  for rodent excreta and other things but also a violation for continuing to sell food products with a closure order in effect . The violation of the closure order brought by far the larger fine .This Monday cost Ray a pretty penny .
Up and down Avenue A Monday , city agents had been  busy ticketing .They were breaking balls and backs both . Employees of city agencies were busy justifying their existence . A traffic enforcement officer spent most of the day writing parking tickets on the avenue   and 2 inspectors from the Dept . of Health and Mental Hygiene wrote numerous violation at Ray's Candy Store .

Early in the morning a health inspector arrived at Ray's and wrote a series of violations , then closed the store posting a closure notice on the front door .After the inspector left , Ray went to bed and business at his candy store went on as usual . Neighborhood folks visited purchasing coffee , ice cream , hot dogs etc. Some read the sign on the door , all entered . Even cops read the sign and entered to purchase something of Ray's faire .For most of the day there were no problems , just another day at Ray's.

Whether or not it made any difference , a large Internet news organization reported Ray's sanitary violations , mostly rodent droppings , and his declaration that he would have to violate the notice of closure. Ray stated that he had to violate the closure notice  in order to make money to pay the rent . It was business as usual at Ray's until  4:30 or so when another inspector from Health and Mental Hygiene arrived to write  more violations and also issue a $2000 fine for violating the notice of closure .The inspector demanded that all food products ; hot dogs , coffee , milk etc. be discarded and all food sales ended .

Since any familiar calculus used to determine likely future outcomes is inapplicable in Ray's special business universe not much can be said about even tomorrow .