Mar 2, 2007 6:37 am US/Eastern
Patrons Upset Over Rat-Related Pizza Hut Closings
Eateries On Staten Island, In Queens Among 13 Shut Tight
by Marcia Kramer
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Rat infestations forced the closings of three tri-state area Pizza Huts, including this one in Ridgewood section of Queens, by the Health Department.
CBS
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The Department of Health closed the business until it passes re-inspection.
CBS
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Rats running rampant through a Greenwich Village KFC/Taco Bell restaurant on Feb. 23, 2007, remains the talk of the town.
CBS
The stomach-turning factor was on parade Thursday as New Yorkers learned that three Pizza Huts, owned by the same company that owned a Greenwich Village KFC/Taco Bell that was overrun with rats and closed by the city Health Department, had rodents, too.
"That's nasty," one concerned citizen said.
"It's horrible," added another.
"You have to be afraid to eat out," said a third.
The Health Department said in the wake of last week's fiasco in the Village, no one's taking any chances.
"It was a lot of droppings, enough to make us say there's an infestation here and this is a really serious problem," said Elliot Marcus, Associate Commissioner of the Health Department.
The company voluntarily closed 10 more restaurants to clean them up.
"They should speak to a good pest control specialiast that will help them not just exterminate rodents but build them out of their facilities," Marcus said.
The problem is CBS 2 discovered that the three Pizza Huts closed by the Health Department -- two on Staten Island and one in the Ridgewood section of Queens -- had been found to have mice or vermin problems on previous inspections.
"There's a big yuk factor," one former patron said. "I don't want to eat out. I'm scared. I used to take my kids there."
At the Pizza Hut in Ridgewood, workers were busy cleaning up the place. Racks and cans of cleaners littered the street.
"I'm glad," one relieved resident said. "Let 'em clean it up."
But for patrons of the Pizza Hut on Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island there were other worries.
"That's horrible because not only that, they do a school program," one person said. "You read so many books a month and they give you a slip and you come and get free pizzas and all the kids do it."
Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said this week that the city's failure to immediately shut the Greenwich Village KFC/Taco Bell after learning of the rat problem was unacceptable. The inspector who conducted the initial review has been temporarily removed from field duty.
Frieden also said that other restaurant inspectors could expect a thorough analysis of their work in the coming weeks.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
SLIDESHOW: Rat Invasion At KFC
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