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Photo taken just after midnight on Friday by Jonathan Goldsbie. The "For Renovations" part of the sign has since been torn off.
You know what's annoying? When the media overexposes a story while at the same time openly asking, "Is the media giving ____ too much coverage?" The Daily Show reams the cable news networks for that all the time. And yet, we have some sympathy. Maybe it's a cry for help. Maybe it's a way for the anchors to get something off their consciences in a way that won't get them fired.
Certainly the Happy Seven incident has received way too much coverage. Or, more accurately, coverage that is far too prominent in their respective news outlets. It was the top story on the CityNews website for a day and a half. It led off their 6 p.m. newscast Wednesday and likely several ones subsequent to that. CBC Toronto had it as the top story on their site. The Star's site gave it second billing, behind the report on the cost of the war in Afghanistan. (Yes, we had it on top. Twice. Three times, now. But we're a blog. Placement on a page is chronological and not based on an implied hierarchy of newsworthiness.)
And just when we thought that the story had reached its saturation point, CityNews has decided to literally beat it into the ground.
What started off as a cute image that would have been a hit on FAIL Blog has spun into, if not a media circus, then certainly a local legend. Sort of this week's 234 Augusta. (When we snapped the top photo just after midnight early Friday, we tried to time our flashes so as not to interfere with a woman who was taking camera phone pics of her boyfriend posing in front of the place.) Citytv has pretty much set up shop in the neighbourhood, and Andrea Piunno is staring down a manhole on Kensington Avenue, specially opened for her by Transportation Services, as we type this. Torontoist lives just around the corner and is happy to let her stay on our couch tonight, as she would probably camp on out Spadina if she could.
The thing is, at Dumpling House, the rats were on the proudly-displayed food preparation surface. Here, they were just in the window, next to a PASS sign. Which is not to say it wasn't a problem, but it was more of a cute/funny thing than a scary one. Like the top pic. That is: it wasn't (and still isn't) news. Maybe a paragraph in the context of a whole newspaper. But not the lead story on a telecast.
The rodent in the Second Cup at Queen and John (right across from the CityCP24CTVGlobeBellMuch building) didn't get this kind of attention. But that didn't really fit into any sort of obvious narrative. Rats on Queen Street. So what. But rats on Spadina are apparently a different matter. The endlessly-replayed footage reaffirms stereotypes about Chinatown and Chinese people. While not explicitly racist like those douches in the comments on blogTO (whose messages were this afternoon thankfully deleted), there's undoubtedly a we've-finally-caught-them-in-the-act gotcha!-ness to the whole thing. A we've-always-had-suspicions-and-now-here-is-the-proof! attitude. That's Toronto Public Health's job. And, much to their credit, they're not particularly eager to jump on the "Chinatown is dirty!" bandwagon.
Torontoist spoke with Anne Marie Aikins, TPH's communications supervisor, who agrees that the media response was disproportionate: Happy Seven has a "pretty clean" record, and the coverage represents an "unfair targeting" of the area. This season is a good time for rodents, too, and "any neighbourhood with old buildings has a rodent problem." Stuff like this is "not really as uncommon as people think," and "it doesn't mean you're dirty." In 2007, forty-one restaurants were closed down in all of Toronto, seventeen of them for rodents (only a handful in Chinatown). That's more than one per month, and with the exception of Dumpling House, none of the others have resulted in a media frenzy. You could argue that part of the difference involves the photographic evidence. But the Second Cup mouse was greeted with a thoroughly blasé attitude (though not by Public Health).
The coverage of Happy Seven was at its strongest when it focused on the tenuousness of the DineSafe program and the inability of Public Health to provide meaningful oversight and a quick turnaround on complaints without having to be embarrassed into doing so. That's a story. But too bad it was also an imposed narrative. The fact is that Jesse Ship snapped the photo around noon on Wednesday and forwarded it on to blogTO and Torontoist at 12:35, and called Public Health around the same time.
Torontoist also contacted TPH and was misinformed by the person who answered the phone that it would take them 24-48 hours to get someone out there. An inspector actually made it on site by 5 that afternoon, was unable to find any signs of vermin, and a blurry photo on the internet is not adequate evidence to have a place shut down. Nevertheless, TPH instructed the restaurant to take a number of measures and were preparing a return visit before they reopened the following morning. (According to NOW, they open at 11:30 a.m. According to the New York Times, they open at 4 p.m.) Four inspectors were there prior to opening, caught three rats, and gave them a red notice. But Breakfast Television was there earlier and broadcast live rattage at 7 a.m.
To recap: TPH had an inspector examine the establishment four hours after receiving the tip but couldn't find anything. They followed up the next morning, saw rats for themselves and shut the place down until such time as the owners "disinfect the premises and provide the city proof that a certified pest control specialist has dealt with the situation." Because of the 6-11-7-12 news cycle and a murky presentation of the timeline, Public Health was made to seem less responsive than it actually was.
Just after midnight Friday the Happy Seven staff was working hard doing... something. We were too shy to gawk directly into the window, but it appeared to be a good housecleaning. Perhaps "renovation" wasn't the right descriptor, but we did like it as a euphemism. Maybe the police would be more forgiving of a Renovation Music Night.
Photo by Jonathan Goldsbie. Additional reporting from David Topping.
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Common sense reporting is refereshing. Thanks Jonathan.
Don't really know what your point is there. The fact is that we should not allow this kind of thing to happen in restaurants regardless if they are Chinese or not. Too much coverage? Well, a few days after Dumpling House reopened there was a lineup. I suspect not many people actually read or watch the news or just don't care.
DineSafe program also doesn't seem to be working at all - probably these so-called "inspectors" are bribed or incompetent.
It is also a fact that many of the restaurants on Spadina are rather spotty and I'd rather avoid all of them than trying to figure out which one is clean. Heck, the Chinese I know don't want to eat there as well.
I blame the sneaky, attention-whore rats.
Well done Jonathan.
I know some Chineses too Metabron! And they like to back up my opinions as well.
The insinuation that this got more attention than Second Cup due to racism is stupid. It got more attention because it prepares and serves food, not coffee and trucked-in muffins.
As well, the biggest gotchas of the bunch were the local blogs, who think wandering the city with a camera and dialing public health makes them the new incarnation of Woodward and Bernstein.
you can blame it on a stereotype regarding Chinatown ___________________ (insert your city here)'s cleanliness or you can blame it on a video showing a rat just hangin' out.
but....and this may rustle some feathers....but...
have you EVER walked down Chinatown Spadina or Chinatown Gerrard? 2 weeks ago, i actually was SHOCKED to see a vegetable market owner cleaning up some of the mess from people husking corn and throwing the husks into the street. in other words: the public perception is that our Chinatowns are really, really filthy. its not that people think Chinese eat rats, cats, dogs, hossinfeffer, etc., its that Chinatown should actually be proactive, educate its vendors, markets and restaurants to meet the public's desire for a clean area/restaurant.
Danforth has 1 (if not 2) BIZs that make an effort to clean an area up. why not Chinatown?
If they made any sort of effort to keep Chinatown clean, you may not have the sensationalization of this story in the manner that you had, because we all know that people love to say "I told you so!!"
and don't label people as being racist if they aren't surprised at the vermin-Chinatown proof. It has to do with Chinatown, not with Chinese people. I personally love Chinese food and the Chinese culture, but you will never catch me in 99% of the restaurants along Spadina. When you go inside and look at the bathrooms, air vents, etc., they are quite filthy.
I actually was SHOCKED to see a vegetable market owner cleaning up some of the mess from people husking corn and throwing the husks into the street. in other words: the public perception is that our Chinatowns are really, really filthy.
Take a look at this article I wrote for Eye back in August. It doesn't address all your concerns, but I think it gives some context.
Danforth has 1 (if not 2) BIZs that make an effort to clean an area up. why not Chinatown?
Chinatown most certainly has a BIA, and it's actively involved in cleaning up the neighbourhood, both literally and figuratively. A number of the news reports about Happy Seven make mention of the BIA's pest-eradication initiatives.
I think I said it last time around, but every restaurant I've ever worked in has had mice or rats. Every single one. Now, that doesn't mean they're crawling all over the food, but especially in areas of heavy restaurant density and old buildings (like Chinatown), it would be near impossible to keep rats out. The main health concern is to keep them off the food stores, the food prep surfaces, and the customer tables.
Check the back room of almost any restaurant and I'll bet you'll find traps and/or poison. Vermin are common; it's just a matter of controlling them.
Also, as anyone who's worked in a restaurant kitchen can tell you, there are sometimes worse things that happen to your food than a rat nibbling through a box of flour, unfortunately.
"Check the back room of almost any restaurant and I'll bet you'll find traps and/or poison. Vermin are common; it's just a matter of controlling them."
This may be true, but it's very possible to control them. The rat in the photo is gigantic (at first I thought it was some other animal) and there is no way in hell this rat could have gone through a small hole in the wall. Also, there is a difference in a mouse speeding on the floor and a big fat rat lazing in the sun.
I also think this restaurant should not be allowed to put a fake statement "Closed for renovation". They should be forced to put an official paper from Public Health inspectors why they were closed in first place. Because this is misleading. Likely the frequent customers are not reading the news, so some of them might not even know what happened.
We have to start cleaning up these restaurants not only for local population, but for tourists. In my opinion we should have grading system for restaurants similar to hotels. That would drive the owners to really put some effort into keeping it clean at all times. Because what will happen now is that they'll call the terminators one off deal, get a pass and then forget about the pest control forever. The pest control should be an ongoing thing.
Rats can get through any hole that their skulls can fit through.
there is no way in hell this rat could have gone through a small hole in the wall.
According to Public Health (and as Marc said), a rat — even one that size — can fit through a hole the size of a quarter.
Also, there is a difference in a mouse speeding on the floor and a big fat rat lazing in the sun.
In the comments of blogTO, js (Jesse Ship, the guy who took the original photo) wrote: "ok...to set something straight, the rat in the window was probably in his death throws [sic] and had some how managed to flee to the fountain in the window to dilute the warfarin that was melting his insides. I thought at first that it had gnawed through an electrical wire and was recovering from the shock, but the interpretation from the global reporter did make a lot of sense..."
They should be forced to put an official paper from Public Health inspectors why they were closed in first place.
They are legally obligated to have their DineSafe notice posted in clear view (as every restaurant is, regardless of the rating), and indeed they did. It's the bright red sign on the right that says "CLOSED." Here is a sharper photo.
Because this is misleading. Likely the frequent customers are not reading the news, so some of them might not even know what happened.
I agree that the "Closed For Renovations" sign was misleading, but it appeared to me that potential customers (or at least the ones I observed) quickly clued in to the red CLOSED sign.
Here's the CityNews report that was being shot when I took the photo of them peering down the manhole. In an odd twist of meta-ness I can briefly be seen in the background.
My favourite line from Piunno: "But it appears the [rat] problem is a lot more widespread than just the Kensington Market / Chinatown area." No shit.
When a bar or restaurant loses its liquor license doesn't it have to put up a big-ass sign saying so and why? Maybe a red DineSafe sign should also come in extra large format.
Oddly, rek, a Conditional Pass notice does list the reason(s) why it was issued.
My perception that Chinatown is incredibly filthy is incorrect??
I'm glad torontoist has enlightened me and I know it isn't true, thanks!