E & L Food Mart, which this blog publicly called out as a classic North Minneapolis "inconvenience store," click here, and which burned down April 28, click here, and also here, is now a pile of rubble.
Unlike the rubble from Broadway Liquor Outlet, which was recently hauled away, the "thuggy rubble" from E & L remains. One of the commenters on my blog summed up how residents of the area feel in the following mildly-profane rant...
So now the "Thug Store" exists as a large pile of shit. This gives our neighborhood a really shit hole look. How long will that pile of shit exist before the City of Minneapolis decides to haul it all away? The "Thug Store" shit pile is now a twin of the shitty "Crap Hole" located a few blocks west on Lowry Avenue. The "Crap Hole" has been there in it's radiant shitty "Crap Hole" glory for more than a year. Just think of all that putrid stinking trash rotting away in the "Crap Hole" and all the rotting food being munched on by filthy city rats in the "Thug Store" pile of shit. YUK!
The other "crap hole" being mentioned is the one at 1900-1904 Lowry Ave. N. (That's not its OFFICIAL address, but I don't want to get into that right now)
Residents are wondering when this MESS will be ADDRESSED.
In the meantime, click here for a Johnny Northside "commentary by link to a song."
My wife and I were recently talking about this. After the fire, the building was torn down and made into a heap of crap because the building was unstable. (Aside: the "heap" seems to be more spread out, due to scrappers picking through it maybe?)
ReplyDeleteAfter that, I believe it would be the building owner's responsibility to take care of it, at least for a reasonable amount of time (more on this later). The building owner would likely have to wait until insurance kicked in (I hope they HAD insurance) to be able to pay for it to be cleaned up.
After the "reasonable" time has passed, the city would slowly turn its cogs and send notifications, eventually cleaning it up and assessing the cost against the property taxes.
The obvious question is how long is reasonable? 13 months ago I would have said work to clean it up should begin a week or two after the event. After hearing all of the stories from tornado victims, I am now a bit more understanding. I recently heard that there are STILL people fighting insurance to get money.
I don't want to make the owner of the building seem like some angel, he/she/they allowed that place to be what it was.
I'm just saying that cleaning up a building has got to be expensive, and it's completely reasonable that the owner doesn't have that sort of money sitting around to get things started, and has to wait until insurance money comes through.
On the other side of things, if there are safety issues, we need to address them quickly. I haven't walked up to the pile myself, but I wouldn't doubt if there are broken glass and other safety issues all around there. Perhaps that means the "reasonable time" should be cut short, and the city should give the owner another week to get a crew out there or they'll do it themselves.
Another way to look at it is funding - if the city steps in, they'll incur the cost and assess it to the owner. There's a good chance that the owner will default on the property, the city will own the land and never see the money.
If the city waits a bit, they can at least cross their fingers that the owner's insurance will pay for a crew to clean it up. After that the land may go into default, but at least the city wouldn't incur the cost of cleanup.
We certainly don't need the pile of cement at Lowry and 94 to get any bigger, but that's another story...
That was a STORE FULL OF FOOD when it burned, not to mention upstairs apartments which can be safely assumed to have cupboards (food) and fridges (food) humble decor though it may have been.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the whole thing has been reduced to charred rubble, contents and all. So there is rotten food, plenty of it, all mixed up with the debri.
And you know what THAT means.
Rats. Flies. Maggots.
I am glad that crummy store with its grumpy staff is gone but it is sad that other businesses were taken out with it and that there is going to be yet another gaping hole along Lowry.
ReplyDeleteThe Chicago Grill was a bit thuggish itself but they seemed to have been trying to clean up the place lately and Hui's, while not the greatest food in the world, was close, cheap, and the people were very nice. I really hope they can and choose to reopen.
I have never been in Hui's. If they reopen, I will have to go check it out.
ReplyDeleteSad to say I will never enjoy the "Tialian Beef" at the Chicago Grill.
ReplyDeleteThe only place in the universe serving Tialian Beef and it's gone.
Weep. Wail. Mourn. Teeth gnash.
Well now, the City of Minneapolis can regurgitate millions to build a Stadium for the Vikings and support rich people, some of which, do not even live in the State of Minnesota. And it makes me question why in heck the City of Minneapolis cannot condemn two buildings obviously unfit for habitation and dangerous to the public. The City of Minneapolis should just haul them away to the dust bin. We live here and pay taxes here and the City of Minneapolis cannot spend a few hundred dollars to clean up two terrible ugly messes. The City of Minneapolis should take action, clean up both messes, and bill the owners and insurance companies. Public health and safety should come first before property rights and insurance companies.
ReplyDeleteHooray! I went by the "Thug Store" today and I am happy to say the "Thug Store" is being hauled away to the dust bin! Now the "Thugs" stand in front of the barber hop. As I drove by them, one of the "Thugs" yelled, "Do you know where you are going?" And I thought,"Yes, I know where I am going. Do you know where you are going?" Would it be proper to call the barber shop the "Thug shop"? On some days you can buy really "cool" tennies from the "Thugs" that sell stuff in front of the barber shop. They have many boxes of them all stacked up neat and pretty.
ReplyDeleteAny way you (or somebody reading this) can forward a picture to verify this info.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the small scale business efforts of thugs, even when they're just selling merchandise you still have to look closely to make sure it's not a Chinese counterfeit, or wonder if it "fell off a truck."
Even when it LOOKS like legitimate sidewalk sales, it still has the "reek of thuggery" and might even be a cover for drug sales.