Artie’s Delicatessen on 83rd and Broadway was closed down by the city for two days this week. The restaurant was forced to close by the Department of Consumer Affairs because it paid its franchise fee a couple of weeks late, owner Tuvia Feldman told us.
“Fifty-eight people out of work for two days because of these idiots,” he said.
Feldman said that the city initially wanted to close the restaurant for weeks over the unpaid fees, but his lawyer was able to reduce the penalty to two days.
Update: The Department of Consumer Affairs sent us the response below:
“Despite repeated efforts by the City to keep Artie’s legally up and running, we’re disappointed that they have repeatedly failed to maintain their license, pay public consent fees, or even show up in court when it came down to it to address the problem. Even when a judge then ordered them shut down for 30 days, we offered a settlement of only 2 days if they agreed to follow the rules like other sidewalk cafes in the neighborhood and across the City.”
Artie’s reopened this morning.
Thanks to Rebecca Frey for the tip and photo.
Why is the owner livid? He was late paying his fees and there are consequences for that. He should pay his staff for the time they missed work because it isn’t their fault that the fees weren’t paid. How do you own a business and pay fees a few weeks late? I think he’s lucky they weren’t shut down longer.
It is disgusting that the owner is:
a) ‘livid’ that he had to incur consequences for his error
b) forced his own employees to pay for his mistake by apparently laying them off to mitigate the personal financial impact from his error.
Apparently it is not enough for him that he runs a significant portion of his business on the a City sidewalk in a enclosed cafe that blocks pedestrian traffic on Broadway. Perhaps CB7 should revoke his enclosed cafe permit. It would never be approved in 2013 as a new application.
It’s his own fault. The City needs to do what it does for every establishment that doesn’t pay its fees on time or every business would just pay late thinking nothing will happen. I guarantee that he won’t pay late again. Calling them idiots is very crass and uncalled for.
The comment writers criticizing the owner should consider that one of the reasons that chains are pushing out local businesses in our neighborhoods is the former’s ability to cope with regulations and red tape. Walgreens and Starbucks have entire departments to make sure piddling fees get paid on time. Local owners do not.
It’s not ‘red tape’ it is the rent on your sidewalk that ‘Artie’ uses to run his business.
agree with you..
We should be helping small business stay in business!
they pay taxes, employ folks.
the city buerocracy destroys entriprise.
I would like to see the first commentators actually try and start and run a business in New York.
Unless of course if you have a homeless shelter to run, well then the city will roll out the red carpet.
Amen brother!
westSider –
In reply to your assertion about running a business – I have owned and run a business in Manhattan for over 25 years. I pay my taxes and City fees on time and pay my employees every week irrespective of how much business I have or don’t have, even when I can’t pay myself. I am more than qualified to make the comments and observations I made. ‘Artie’ had no problem finding a way to thread the City bureaucracy to get an ENCLOSED sidewalk cafe permit approved on Broadway in the low 80’s (a virtually impossible feat) so ‘Artie’ can darn well figure out when his franchise fee is due. ‘Arttie’ demonstrated no respect for either the City or his employees. They should have been shut down for the full 30 days.
Well there may be more to this than meets the eye….
Perhaps Bloomberg’s Fee-Hunting Nazi Inspector Squad got orders to enforce a late fee payment for the 1st time to increase city revenues this year.
After all the city has to make good on the Billions Wall St. stole from city coffers, no to mention Blomberg’s own ‘city time’ scandal.
That sign is a bit OTT even if technically accurate. If the city needs money, try enforcing the honking laws. That would raise money and quality of life.
If he had paid his employees during the closure, one might feel sorry for him – but he didn’t and I don’t. It was the owner who caused the employees to not be paid – no one else.
Ken- you are right on point and as far as I can tell, the only credible voice here.
The Marxist studies majors are making the world safe for unicorns.
ARTIES IS SUCH A EXPENSIVE AND PHONY PLACE….WHENEVER ARTIES GETS AN A RATING ITS SPLATTERED ALL OVER THE WINDOWS…WHEN THEY GET A GRADE PENDING RATING ITS DOWN IN THE CORNER ON THE SIDE WHERE YOU HAVE TO HIRE A P.I. TO FIND IT.
1. EVERY restaurant brags about their ‘A’ rating when they get one and COMPLETELY obscures it when it’s less than ‘B’, not just Artie’s.
2. If you hate it so much and think it’s so fake and awful, why do you care, and why are you even commenting here?
3. If this was a cupcake shop or some lame-ass “sugar and yumm” crap sweets shop, nobody would have cared. The city would have paid the fine FOR them.
Huh?
Artie’s manager or owner was unbelievably hostile and rude when I pointed out to him yesterday morning that there was food spilled all over the sidewalk and street from the garbage left in front. Since I’ve suffered from the mice and vermin brought by his business for years, I thought the least he could do was pretend he cared!