‘The city needs to help’: Lafayette Coney Island responds after second closure due to rats
DETROIT (FOX 2):Lafayette Coney Island in Detroit was forced to close again because of afterrats, and the downtown eatery responded to the problem on social media.
Lafayette shared a Jan. 22 pest inspection report on Monday, stating that there was “no new activity to report.” The Coney Island voluntarily closed on January 24 due to rat evidence, according to the Detroit Health Department.
According to Detroit Chief Public Health Officer Denise Fair Razo, “there was an abundance of rat pellets,” last week she told FOX 2. “It was way too many to be open.”
What they’re saying:
According to the owners of Lafayette, the city must assist companies that are struggling with rats.
“There is a rat problem in Detroit. The businesses that sustain our lovely city must receive assistance from the city. “I promise that there are infestations in other locations,” the company posted on Facebook.
Lafayette launched a rebuttal at Grace Keros, the proprietor of American Coney Island, and addressed rats in the city. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Keros said that her building is rat-free and clean. But Lafayette, her neighbor, was filthy, she claimed.
After the restaurant was temporarily closed due to rats, Grace Keros, the owner of American Coney Island in Detroit, blasted Lafayette, a nearby Coney Island. Keros stated that Lafayette’s problems are having an effect on her eatery.
“I’m upset, I’m annoyed,” Keros remarked. “We are not the same as what they do. Not in the way we conduct ourselves, our behavior, or the services we provide.”
After someone suggested that her restaurant could also be infested because it shared a wall with Lafayette, Keros stated she had to. She once implied that Lafayette didn’t have a mop or broom.
“In light of the soapbox statement someone made earlier, unlike her, we have never been and are not into bashing and putting down other businesses, we aren’t that desperate,” wrote Lafayette. “American Coney Island can easily point the finger at us. However, who can honestly claim that the rats aren’t moving from them to us? To be sure, we may have to locate and speak with one of the rats. Oh, and we do have a mop and a broom.
American Coney Island claims that business is being impacted by a rat infestation that forced Lafayette Coney Island, its neighbor in Downtown Detroit, to temporarily close.
The backstory
Lafayette’s door was marked “closed” on Friday because of rat proof.
The restaurant has had to temporarily close because of rodents for the second time in two years. Lafayette Coney Island was closed in 2022.
According to Lafayette employees, the issue began when rats from a nearby garden entered the building and subsequently found their way through gaps in the basement wall.
Next steps:
Lafayette has been directed to fix the basement’s holes and devise a strategy to stop similar problems in the future. Early this week, city inspectors are anticipated to visit the restaurant to assess its progress.
The Source: Information from a Lafayette Coney Island statement and earlier FOX 2 news were used to write this report.