From Total Shock And Disgust To Willful Ignorance In Just One Week (Now That’s More Like It)

For every pest you see there are hundreds more lurking out of your sight:

Health inspectors have shuttered a famous Manhattan pizzeria, a move some described as a crackdown by the Health Department after a KFC/Taco Bell franchise passed an inspection even though it was infested with rats.

John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village was dark yesterday; health inspectors shut down the restaurant on Friday, a sign in the window said.

“It seems that due to the extensive media coverage of a certain fast food restaurant and the scandal surrounding the N.Y.C. department of health, they now are trying to save face and set examples,” the sign read. It went on to describe mandatory improvements the restaurant would make before reopening, such as installing sinks closer to the pizza-making area, placing proper lids on garbage cans in the restrooms, and sealing cracks in the basement floor.

The sign attracted a crowd yesterday outside the beloved restaurant, which was established in 1929. Famous for its thin-crust pizza, coal oven, long lines, and cash-only policy, the pizzeria has a cult following that includes celebrities whose photos grace the windows, such as Regis Philbin, Johnny Depp, and Harry Connick Jr.

“It’s preposterous. It’s our family tradition. We come every Sunday,” a man who said his first taste of New York City pizza was at John’s, Rob Wilson, said. “It never hurts to clean up your shop, but did they have to close it down?”

. . .

Several doors down from John’s, an Italian restaurant, Risotteria, was also shut down on Friday. In its window, a sign told patrons the restaurant had “fallen victim to the health department’s zeal to cover their tracks for past sins.”