The Trinidad Market and Deli (Trinidad and Florida) was closed late last week for health code violations. The closure lasted the weekend, and will likely last at least through Monday. Here's an email from the Department of Health on the closure:
Good Morning Ms. Thompson,
Today we issued a summary suspension of the food product license forvTrinidad Market and Deli. The facility was operating out of the purviewvof their licensure. A food product license does not allow anyone to sell items too the public that are potentially hazardous / ready to eat. The
facility was selling pickles that customers may access directly in addition to cups of ice.
With respect to violations, I've never seen a facility with so many flies in ten years of experience. There were 9 fly traps spread throughout the store and several dead flies noted on top of some food products. We also found mice droppings on shelves and some evidence of tampering with food. The hand sink was in disrepair giving them less incentive to wash hands and the certified food supervisor was not present upon our arrival to enforce such a practice.
I told them to have the exterminator contact me directly so that I can instruct him / her to address the situation behind the walls of the store. Those horse flies are coming from dead and rotting material somewhere and we will find out where as this situation plays out.
Mr. Brown's staff also addressed the outside area and some of those areas are covered on the inspection sheet. I can provide copies of the pictures later when the inspector returns this afternoon.
I also took time to visit the man next door as he showed me the horrible conditions by which he and his family are being forced to live in. Folks, this is an unacceptable situation and we will try and do everything possible to correct. I envision the store being closed at least through the weekend and depending on what the exterminator can or can't do, we will revisit then.
Obviously this will be an ongoing situation but I think if we continue to work as one, it can be corrected. I stressed to all parties involved that as long as their neighbors, they will have to work together. We will try to facilitate that.
Thank You
Robert L. Sudler, Jr.
Program Manager
DC Department of Health
Food Safety and Hygiene Inspection Services Division
825 North Capitol St. NE
Room 8007
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: 202-535-2180
Cell: 202-834-6325
Fax: 202-535-1359
www.dchealth.dc.gov
The complaint came from an adjacent neighbor who had to rip out drywall fdue to rats that appear to have come from the market. Even after ripping out walls they were unable to get rid of the rotting dead rat smell. Even with the drywall removed the smell of rot remains. The residents complained to the store owner, but reportedly the shop owner declined to pay for the damage that it appears he caused. The homeowner fears replacing the drywall until the rat problem is abated. My personal suggestion is to avoid this store (at least until he pays restitution, and cleans up his act). I won't give my money to an irresponsible business owner who shows such blatant disrespect for his neighbors.
15 comments:
Lovely. Weren't they trying to get a liquor license as well?
Places like this should be closed.I think they are over priced,poor quality of merchandise,dirty ,and they dont add any quality of life to the neighborhood.
You don't have to be a genius to know you shouldn't buy sh!t from corner stores in the ghetto. I won't even buy a pack of cigarettes from a store like this. Just disgusting.
The person in thread that stated "from corner stores in the ghetto",do you live in vicinity ?...just curious.
It sucks that places like this somehow manage to stay open while clean places with nice and responsive owners like the Black Supermarket end up closing.
Yes I do live in the ghetto "anon 5:45"
When did the Black Supermarket close?
re: Black Supermarket: Walter got a foreclosure notice about a month ago and has been officially closed since then. He has still been selling things to people he knows until he goes through liquidation, which will be soon unfortunately. He was trying to work out a few things to keep the space but not sure if he has had any luck. He said the DCRA took forever to let him reopen after he remodeled after a fire and he couldn't recover from the lost revenue.
That sucks about Black Supermarket. I had heard that he was having problems, but am saddened to hear that he has being foreclosed on. What will happen to the business and the apartments?
On Black Supermarket...for some strange reason, I never felt comfortable shopping there. I looked around for the "white supermarket" but didn't see it anywhere.
Went by last night, and the Black Supermarket and the Trinidad Market and Deli were both open.
Trinidad Market & Deli reopenedd on Monday or Tuesday. Typically the places are able to reopen shortly after the violations if they have abated the issue.
Glad it is going personally, first the name, then the poor customer service, and lack of products. Owner was not very customer friendly. And come one, Black Supermarket? I hope a non racially biased business can open there in the future.
-R
Walter runs the Black supermarket, but he inherited the name some 30 years ago. He doesn't know where it came from. It has been a store since at least 1909 (and appears to have been originally white owned and run). I say this based on an old photo that Walter displayed there prior to the fire.
The speculation is that the Black in the title is actually someone's last name. It isn't about race. I promise that Walter is most friendly to anyone regardless of race.
It looks like he was overextended, but I feel very bad for him. Apparently he is losing his house to foreclosure, as well as the building that holds his store. He's in his late 60s. I don't know where he'll go. From talking with him, he doesn't know either.
R - Seriously? Walter is such a nice person and really cares about the neighborhood. We are talking about someone's livelihood. Walter has been a great neighbor and I personally will be so sorry to see his store close down. Also, when Walter reopened he offered to stock anything that we needed. I would say that that is pretty good customer service.
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