By Rebecca Henely
Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Health Department inspectors: lay off the kimchee.
In a town hall held at the Queens Library’s main branch at 41-17 Main Street in Flushing Wednesday, a member of the Korean American Community Foundation, which hosted the event, said many Korean restaurants are written up for violations because kimchee, a traditional Korean food, must be stored at room temperature.
Kimchee is a popular side dish made with fermented vegetables such as cabbage and radish.
Elliott Marcus of the city Health Department responded that the violations could be avoided due to record keeping, although the mayor stepped in and said they would talk about a solution to the problem.
“Has anybody ever died from eating kimchee?” Bloomberg asked, a question that received a thunderous “No!” from the mostly Korean audience.
Bloomberg also answered questions about immigration, foreign language access and parking on Northern Boulevard in Flushing.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
