The week of restaurant shutdowns in Bushwick continues.
Molly’s Milk Truck, at 214 Knickerbocker Ave., was forced to close temporarily this week because of unsafe building conditions.
A friend of a Bushwick Daily contributor happened to be going to grab lunch at Molly’s when he found it shuttered and the entrance to the residential apartments padlocked yesterday. He snapped these photos.
A current Molly’s employee later confirmed the report, but assured us that the cafe had no part in any wrongdoing and would reopen soon.
“[We’re] not closed, but having major issues with construction upstairs. The hood was broken in the kitchen because of sloppy construction, gas and hot water turned off, generally major issues so Molly’s had to emergency close and evacuate,” the employee said.
“Trying to work with the owners of the building to get back up and running again ASAP.”
The building currently has 17 open violations, several of which are for not fixing “immediately hazardous” building flaws, according to city records.
One violation from June 2 stated that the second and third floor was sloped and that the roof was not level. The violation ordered that the building, which is a multi-unit residence, file a repair plan and fix the issue by July. That violation remains active, meaning nothing was done.
Another violation came less than two weeks later on June 13, fining the owner — 214 Knickerbocker LLC — a $12,000 fine for failing to provide unobstructed exits. The violation noted that bicycles stored on fire escapes were to blame. The violation remains open and the fine unpaid.
This seems to be another case of landlord negligence in Bushwick, which is home to some of the worst landlords in New York City.
That said, for the love of Pete, please don’t leave your bikes on the fire escapes!