If the sprinkles move, they’re probably flies, in one Pelham Bay ice cream shop.
The Carvel and Twin Donut on 3011 Westchester Avenue was shut by the Department of Health on Thursday, September 15 after inspectors racked up 89 violation points against the eatery.
In what the DOH considers “critical” violations, the store was found with “filth flies and food/refuse/sewage-associated flies present in the facility’s food and/or non-food areas.” Filth flies pertain to house flies, blow flies, bottle flies, flesh flies, and FRSA flies pertain to fruits flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
A sign posted on the storefront’s window over the past weekend said that it was closed due to a “water leak.” According to the DOH, the Carvel and Twin Donut has racked up 38 or more violation points five times since last December.
Pelham Bay Merchants Association president Sherry Scanlon was disappointed to hear of the news, but said she was not really surprised that DOH shut the place down.
“Actually, I expected it to happen. I personally have gone in there several times and you can easily see that things were not properly handled,” Scanlon said. “When you have a local establishment such as this, you expect the best from them.
“My daughter loves ice cream and she has gone in there before, but when you hear this, you don’t want your children buying from somewhere where you can’t trust the product.”
Carvel and Twin Donut accumulated 82 violation points in a Tuesday, June 21 inspection, including “evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas,” and “food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.” A subsequent Health Department inspection on Tuesday, June 28, after a major cleanup, netted only nine violation points..
On Monday, September 19, the store was gated, but workers were seen inside, possibly cleaning up the recent mess and preparing for a re-opening pending another DOH inspection.
“I’m very glad the Department of Health came in and shut it down. I have bought cakes and ice cream there before so when you learn that this happened it’s not really something you want to hear,” Scanlon said. “I had worked in restaurants for many years and it’s a given that you should do your best in keeping your establishment clean. If you don’t do what’s right for the customers then something like this happens.”
As of press time, it was unclear who owned the franchise, since there has been management changes recently.
