When news first broke that 64-year-old Bay Ridge soda fountain and Who Goes There? vet Hinsch's is going to shutter on March 1, co-owner Roger Desmond attributed it to the neighborhood's changing tastes, saying that "Bay Ridge is more of a fast food kind of place now." But the State Senator from Bay Ridge, Marty Golden, has a different theory, saying that a pair of food carts parked down the block are forcing the restaurant to close. He made the claim in the context of calling for tighter restrictions on street venders.
Not for nothing, Desmond's responded by telling the Brooklyn Paper: "The clientele I have is not a food cart type-clientele. They had nothing to do with Hinsch's closing." The director of the Street Vendor Project also points out that evidence shows street carts don't actually compete with brick-and-mortars.
· State Sen. Blames Hinsch's Closure on Bay Ridge Food Carts [BP]
· Bay Ridge Institution Hinsch's to Shutter on March 1 [~ENY~]
[Krieger]