4 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 29, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Photo via Facebook/JasonClohessy
A rodent was captured on video crawling around
food at Bagel Oasis in Fresh Meadows last week.
Bagel shop reacts to
viral rodent video
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
In the wake of a viral video that caught
a rodent crawling around food in one of
its glass display cases, a beloved Fresh
Meadows bagel shop took to social media
on Wednesday to make it clear that they’ve
cleaned up their act.
Bagel Oasis, located at 183-12 Horace
Harding Expy., took the spotlight for the
wrong reasons last week aft er Facebook
user Jason Clohessy posted two videos,
which have since been deleted, on June
15 showing a large rodent walking around
a case fi lled with cold cuts. Th e video
amassed thousands of shares and comments
before it was removed.
Th e shop’s owner posted to the deli’s
Facebook page nearly a week later to clear
the air and address customers.
“What happened of course is unacceptable
and defi nitely not the way we conduct
business at Bagel Oasis,” the post reads.
“For the past 57 years we have maintained
the highest standards of product
quality and cleanliness.”
Th e owner claims that the Health
Department came in “immediately aft er”
the video was posted to conduct an inspection,
and the shop was found to be “rodent
and insect free.”
QNS has reached out to the Health
Department to confi rm this information.
“I can only speculate on how the mouse
got into our store. It is no secret that we
are a very busy place with customers and
vendors coming and going all times of the
day and night,” the business owner continues.
The post, signed “Our Deepest
Apologies,” has over 100 comments from
customers and residents with a wide range
of reactions.
Many locals were forgiving to the longtime
neighborhood staple.
“Th is can happen to anyone anytime
anywhere,” Pino Augello commented.
“Good luck to Bagel Oasis. I will be back.”
Others said that they would not return
to the beloved store aft er viewing the
video.
“No can do. Sorry. Th at was a rat and
not a mouse,” Gregory Dalia wrote.
Th e 24-hour bagel shop has been ranked
among the best in the city by multiple
publications over the years, including
USA Today, GQ and Gothamist.
Photo by Diana Monteverdi
One of the demolished pedestrian ramps near the Clearview Expressway in Bayside
Bayside’s Clearview Expressway
pedestrian ramps won’t be replaced: DOT
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
connection between the two sides of the
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
neighborhood aft er it was split by the
new roadway.
Crews have begun ripping down
Shortly aft er the January announcement,
two aging pedestrian ramps near the
local residents, elected offi -
Clearview Expressway in Bayside, and
cials and civic leaders sent a letter
offi cials say that there there are no plans
addressed to NYSDOT and Governor
in place to replace them.
Andrew Cuomo. Signed by state
Th e New York State Department of
Senator Tony Avella, Assemblyman
Transportation (NYSDOT) permanently
Edward Braunstein, Community Board
closed the two ramps that run under
11 Chairperson Christine Haider,
the Long Island Rail Road trestles on
Auburndale Improvement Association
the east and west sides of the Clearview
First Vice President Henry Euler and
Expressway service road on Jan. 13.
Bayside Historical Society President
Workers were on site on June 23 to
Paul DiBenedetto, the group points to
begin demolishing the ramps, which
the ramps’ history as a connective tissue
were deemed “underutilized and in poor
for the neighborhood and claims that
condition,” according to the state agency.
they are not underutilized, as the agency
said, but are used “on a daily basis.”
First constructed in the 1960s, the
“While we understand that NYSDOT
ramps were built at the same time as the
had to close the pedestrian bridge due
Clearview Expressway and served as the
to its deteriorating condition, the decision
to not replace the bridge should
not have been made without the elected
offi cials’ or community’s input and
they should have come to the community
board for a hearing to get the community’s
input,” the letter reads.
In April, the group received a response
from NYSDOT Regional Director Sonia
A. Pichardo, who said neither rehabilitation
nor new ramps would be possible.
“We also assessed ramp usage and
determined that it is very light, even on
school days,” Pichardo said. “Infrequent
usage does not justify investing in the
design and construction of new replacement
ramps.”
Demolition work is scheduled to be
completed by the end of the summer, a
representative for NYSDOT said. Th ere
will be partial closures of the service
road ramp lane on a daily basis for each
bridge at separate times.
Payless ShoeSource to close Bayside store
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
A Bayside shoe store will step out of its
storefront for good next month.
Payless ShoeSource, located at 42-10
Bell Blvd., will offi cially close for business
on Monday, July 10, an employee
told QNS. Th e store is off ering its selection
of shoes, handbags and accessories
for women, men and children at discounts
of up to 40 percent off .
Th e closure comes a few months aft er
the discount shoe retailer announced that
it would close hundreds of stores aft er fi ling
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections.
Other Queens stores that may be
subject to closure “pending ongoing
negotiations” are 31-22 Farrington St.
in Flushing, 22-48 31st St. in Astoria
and 37-40 74th St. in Jackson Heights,
according to the Payless website. Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS