UPPER EAST SIDE — The health food restaurant at the center of Rep. Michael Grimm's federal indictment was shut down last week after health inspectors found live roaches and evidence of rats.
Healthalicious, located at 1594 Second Ave., was shut down by Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Thursday for not keeping hot food at safe tempratures and not protecting food from vermin, among other violations, according to the DOH.
The spot was re-inspected on Monday after staff repaired equipment, and reopened on Tuesday around 2 p.m., manager Jay Figueroa said.
Grimm sold the Upper East side spot in 2010, ahead of his congressional campaign, and it changed hands at least twice in 2011, Figueroa said. It's currently owned by NTE Management, Figueroa said.
Healthalicious was at the center of Grimm's 20-count federal indictment in April when he was accused of hiding more than $1 million in profits at the restaurant from the IRS.
Grimm, 44, who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, was charged with crimes including mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, and impending the IRS, among others.
The former Marine and FBI agent, who was barred from the agency's New York field office after he quit, vehemently denied the allegations against him, calling them a "political witch hunt."
"Time and time again I have shown that I don't abandon my post. I didn't abandon my post when I was fired on in combat... I'm not abandoning my post now," said Grimm, who will run against former City Councilman Dominick Recchia Jr. for his congressional seat.
"We're going to fight tooth and nail until I am fully exonerated. I will not abandon my post or the wonderful people who entrusted me to represent them. I have their backs and I know that they have mine."
