A kosher hot dog vendor has vowed to appeal a judge’s conclusion that the New York Mets can bar it from hawking glatt wieners on the Sabbath.
Kosher Sports had filed suit against the Mets in 2010 after the Amazin’s forbade them to operate Friday nights and Saturdays.
The Mets declined to comment for this article, citing the fact that litigation is ongoing.
But Rabbi Gerald Skolnik, from the Forest Hills Jewish Center, shed some light on the problem, calling it Kosher 101.
The Sabbath runs from Friday night to Saturday night and, according to Jewish law, cooking is forbidden, he said.
“If you have a kosher eating establishment, Jews are not allowed to work on the Sabbath,” he said. “I think the point is that they would want their kosher hot dog vendor to not be open on the Sabbath as to appeal to the largest swatch of Jews.”
But Kosher Sports took issue and filed suit against the Mets, claiming that Queens Ballpark Co., which operates Citi Field, violated the terms of their contract.
But on Feb. 21, Judge Jack Weinstein tossed out the suit in Brooklyn Federal Court, ruling that the ball team upheld its end of a 10-year contract with the vendor.
“The contract ... does not, as [Kosher Sports] argues, provide the right to sell its products at each and every Mets game,” Weinstein said in his ruling.
Kosher Sports thought otherwise, arguing that the Mets breached the contract by specifically excluding them on the two days in question, as well as denying them the number of vending spots laid out in the contract.
But not only did Kosher Sports have its suit tossed out, Weinstein ruled that Kosher Sports had, in fact, breached the contract by not paying for advertising rights in protest of the snack embargo.
Edward Normand, a lawyer for Kosher Sports, said the vender would appeal the ruling.
By Joe Anuta - www.timesledger.com
This judge needs to retire. This is discrimination 101. Do you think for one second that caters to only orthodox Jews?? The facts are that they are the only vendor who is being stopped by the Mets from selling on the weekends.
ReplyDeleteOh and by the way Rabbi, considering that hot dogs can be eaten right out of the pack I am not so sure they are doing any "cooking" on the weekend.
Once again the Mets can't get it right. They had no problem letting Hebrew National sell their products on the weekends at Shea Stadium. This is about the Mets needing money and by selling their own stuff from these locations being rented out by the vendor they don't have to share the profits.