Probably one of the biggest complaints at neighborhood community meetings are the negative impact on quality of life that many small neighborhood grocery stores have on street corners and neighborhood quality of life.
The complaints range from drug sales to illegal alcohol sales to loitering and gun violence.
Today the Hartford Police Department and several City and State agencies conducted unannounced inspections of several of the businesses. Hartford Police officers, Hartford License and Inspections, Hartford Health Inspectors and the State of Connecticut Labor Department and Revenue Services focused on compliance with State and City regulations throughout the South District. Nine locations in total were inspected, and five of the stores were shut down immediately due to violations.
Carolina Grocery at 865 New Britain Avenue and Town Market at 1637 Park Street, had no violations found. Anthemy Supermarket at 3 Wethersfield Avenue had several violations, but none serious enough to shut down the store, although the health Department immediately ceased all food service. The State Labor Department opened an investigation into their staff issues and the Fire Marshall's Office began an investigation into Fire Code violations.
The Baldwin Grocery at 2 Baldwin Street was allowed to remain open after fixing electrical code violations.
The Platinum Grocery at 347 Wethersfield Avenue was shut down after Health code violations were found, including an expired Health permit and they were ordered to stop selling food. Revenue Services issued summonses for sale of untaxed cigarettes and the Labor Department also found labor violations. STORE CLOSED
Last Stop Market at 427 Wethersfield Avenue was shut down after State Inspectors found Revenue (Tax) issues and Labor violations. STORE CLOSED
The Beltre Family Grocery at 955 Broad Street was shut down after inspectors found Labor and Revenue issues and Health Inspectors found no current Health Permit for the operation. STORE CLOSED
G&C Grocery, 760 Park Street was shut down after State Inspectors found Workers Compensation issues. STORE CLOSED
El Comerio Grocery at 307 Zion Street was also shut down after State Inspectors found Worker's Compensation issues and Revenue Inspectors issued summonses for Tax violations.
Good Work addressing Quality of Life issues in the South End by all involved, including the Southend CSO's, Sergeant Kevin Oulette and Lieutenant Ian Powell as well as all other City and State inspectors involved
So let me get this straight. Minnie gonzalez is collecting cash donations at the new britain latino fest and then she will hand deliver the cash to puerto rico herself ?? Someone should track some of that loot and see which politician pockets it. A free trip to the island with some pocket money for the queen bee of park st.
ReplyDeleteMind ur business u nosy *ss. Minnie �� will go to Puerto Rico for free all expenses paid by her constituents!! First class might I add!!
Deletethe kfc on albany ave looks very clean. Give them an "A"
ReplyDeleteNice to see you writing again, Kevin. Your readers miss weekly posts from you!! Could you keep tracking this? Would be interesting to see how effective such an effort is, or does ownership simply transfer somehow and the stores re-open for another year under another person's name. Is this kind of statistic kept somewhere?
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what happens. We've been doing those inspections in the North End for approximately 15 years. The Dominicans that own the stores put their relatives names in it and continue business as usual. It's very difficult for license and inspection to be able to do their job because of the layers and layers of nonsense these stores put up.
Delete11:05am
ReplyDeleteYou may want to express your concerns to the Deputy Chief for North District , if you can find him. Start by checking the parking lots in West Hartford Center or wherever he is carrying on his liaisons these days
Dear hpd range master,
ReplyDelete46, 83 at the goats game and pull those russian lady tapes.....
Dear anonymous 12:05pm I'm sure he is aware and working diligently on it.
ReplyDeleteAs if he would have any clue on how to conduct any type of investigation??? Please!
DeleteAgreed as far as the range goes....he can shoot and knows his weapons.
Why should he get his ass up at 1:30 in the morning to go into this? Why don't you just film it since apparently you're up that late or should I say early in the morning watching? Why aren't you calling 911 on this? Or complaining to license and inspection?
ReplyDeleteI am waiting for the day ICE does a massive sweep on Park street at 1700hrs on a Friday.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 4:57 pm, I'm sure if the rangemaster wanted to be a good investigator he would put his mind to it and work hard at it. Of course this is all hypothetical because I can't speak for him, The one thing he cares about is Officers making it home to their families. He will be the 1st to tell you he doesn't give a rats ass about investigating baby momma drama. As far as he is concerned be the best at what your good at, reach retirement, then enjoy your family while you grow old on the city dime.
ReplyDeleteCan u stop saying " on the city's dime"!!! Its incorrect & just shows that u don't understand the pension process. Its $$ YOU put in jack ass...smh
DeleteDirty bodegas really!! What about all the heroin in every corner of the city. Even the Southwest has heroin ODs now. What about all the PCP in the city also. What about all the hoodrats carrying illegal pistols and the shootouts every week. When is HPD going to work on these crimes??? Bodegas selling food without a permit ain't killing the city it's the drugs and shootings!! How about focusing on the threat to life crimes. This reminds me of several years ago when you posted that HPD along with Federal agents raided bodegas that were selling bootleg merchandise.
ReplyDeleteTrust me bodegas are not causing shootouts. Bodegas are not selling drugs either or selling guns. It's the customers that go to the bodegas that hang around the store fronts. Maybe police should do a better job of enforcing loitering violations in front of these businesses.Bodega owners don't have time to babysit the exterior when they have a business to watch and run inside. Some of these bodega owners work 14 and 16 hour days. It's the police department job to patrol the streets not the bodega owners
ReplyDeleteAhhh, negative. It's the store owners responsibility to take care of the front of their store not the police. If the store allows it then the police have their hands tied. Nice try street lawyer...
Delete9:04PM
ReplyDeleteThat is part of the problem in the false information being spread by Mayor Bronin. Wheter that comes from ignorance of the facts by the Mayor or a deliberate will to mislead is a question for the Mayor. All Union benefits and ALL collective bargaining agreements were approved and voted on by the City. The police Officers and Firefighters constantly being singled out by Bronin as the villains in the City's Budget crisis are only guilty of playing by the rules that the City laid out for them to play by.
Also the one solid asset the City of Hartford is able to claim is its Pension Fund, which currently is funded at close to a BILLION dollars, funded by the employees who also pay their share into it. That asset also will most likely prove to be problematic for Bronin in any Chapter 9 Bankruptcy Filing. Can you really claim you are broke while sitting on a billion dollars?
As far as what I know, the Hartford city employee MERF pension, is not managed by the city and does not belong to the city. The mayor had tried to "borrow" against it, but he can't. If it was city managed and owned, he would have been able to, which would've been bad. It is funded at close to a billion dollars, funded by employees and the cities contributions. The city is not on the verge of bankruptcy because of employee pensions. The city is on the verge of bankruptcy due to years of mismanagement and reckless spending and due to state and non profit businesses and a very low tax base. City employee contracts are not the cause of the cities lack of funds. Bronin is actually a genius in all honest, he is well aware of this. It only benefits the state, the region and the city to not file for bankruptcy.
Delete12:47am
ReplyDeleteI wish you were as concerned about one of your own officers intoxicated at A yard Goats Game and carrying a weapon. An Officer who was intoxicated enough to draw the attention of a State Trooper who observed her behavior. That is more of a concern to me than the investigative skills of the Range Master. And since clearly plenty of people are talking about it, where is the I-file number?
Agree Kevin. Sounds like she needs help as well.
DeleteHold up an officer was drunk off duty at a yard goats game had her 83 on her and there was no arrest? Dare I guess what her ethnicity is
ReplyDeleteIrish ? Black ? Or Hispanic it doesn't matter the ethnicity all that matters is that she is a female. They get away with anything these days.
DeleteNo arrest ...yet. Let's go to the video folks
ReplyDeleteNo I- file created. She went home on her Merry way and then reported for duty the next day like nothing ever happened.
Delete9:04am
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that the Chief can open an I-File anytime he feels the need for an Investigation. He may not even be aware of the incident until it was mentioned here
That's scary
DeleteHer race is irrelevant because we all know the favorites in this dept represent every race.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me HPD is trying hard to get into the national lime light. Last wk was a bad wk for cops nationwide but with the Lanza situation, prisoner dying in HPD lockup, and an officer drunk with her side arm on her person it seems to me HPD is pushing to make the nightly news with Lester Holt (or some other media clown).
ReplyDeleteYou want openess? I posted several days ago defending that officer because I was actually there. So where is my post? Guess you only post stuff that is anti police and what you want people to believe.
ReplyDeleteAgree
Delete5:07pm, I don't know what your problem is, but there are probably very few people in the city more pro police than I am. You obviously didn't submit it properly otherwise I would have it. if you want to drop the attitude and try sending it again feel free
ReplyDeleteI would like to say something in regards to this post. First off, let me just state that when I first read this post I couldn’t believe what I was reading. So I decided to do my own investigation. Through multiple resources, I soon discovered who this female in question is. I would like to state from the start that I am not a friend of hers, just a co-worker. However, I was there the day this “incident” as you call it occurred.
ReplyDeleteI was around her from the Russian Lady, to the ball park, to her vehicle. We all walked to each location together in groups. While at the game, I saw her standing by the field watching the game and talking to other officers and their families. At no point was an 83 mentioned, shown, or seen. And if one had been, there were multiple officers and supervisors that would have stepped in.
At no point in time, did this officer ever appear to be in such an intoxicate state that I was worried for her. As I stated earlier, I am not a friend of hers, but I would never let someone I know drive home if they were in such a state. I walked with her and several others in a small group back to our vehicles, and at no time did she have any type of behavior that I was questioning whether or not she should drive home.
In addition, whether she is white, black, Hispanic, male, or female or IRRELEVENT! If such an incident had taken place, she would have been dealt with properly.
So why was nothing done? If a trooper saw her why didn’t he approach her or a Sergeant or Lieutenant on scene. Because nothing happened! Yes, she had a drink in her hand. The same drink all night might I add. No, I did not, nor did I ever see an 83 on her, and apparently no one in her immediate area did either, except this one trooper.
Finally, now she has come under question on whether or not she has a “drinking problem?” Seriously? This female works all the time; she is rarely home. I have spoken to a few people that I know she talks/hangs out with outside of work. They all say the same thing; she is a social drinker, maybe twice a month.
Everyone here has jumped to conclusions and made judgments based off of what one person believes he saw. Everyone keeps asking about an investigation, there is nothing to investigate. Yes she had a few drinks, but not enough to be wasted. And no one else saw this 83 that she apparently displayed.
Hey Amanda nobody is fooled, stop defending your drunken actions and go back to petting your lizard!!
Delete