Shakespeare & Co Cafe Closed By City Health Inspectors

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — To clean or not to clean, that is the question.

Popular Lenox Hill bookstore Shakespeare & Co had its indoor cafe shuttered by city health inspectors earlier this week, according to city data and large, yellow signs from the Department of Health inside the store.

While the rest of the bookstore remains in operation, the normally filled seats by the cafe were mostly empty on Friday afternoon when Patch visited the Hunter College-adjacent shop.

A printed sign next to the official yellow city notice attempts to reassure customers that the cafe is merely closed for dishwasher repair, but according to Health Department data, the dishwasher has nothing to do with the closure — first observed by Upper East Site — which happened on May 9, when the cafe racked up 48 violation points.

Inspectors knocked the cafe for not cleaning or sanitizing wiping cloths in-between uses, a lack of Food Protection Certificate held by a manager or supervisor of the cafe, food, supplies, or equipment not protected from potential source of contamination and no approved written standard operating procedure for avoiding contamination by refillable returnable containers.

Every year, inspectors arrive unannounced at more than 25,000 restaurants to examine health and safety standards.

Most eateries pass inspections, but some fall short of the city's standards, accruing violation points for everything from broken light bulbs to "public health hazards," like vermin and failure to follow food safety protocols.

Restaurants hit with non-food-safety violations might get a fine or a lower letter grade, with zero to 13 points warranting an 'A' and violations totaling 28 points or more earning a 'C' (this system is criticized for its efficacy by some gourmands).