Poor Rakesh Aggarwal could soon become Poorer Rakesh Aggarwal.

Poorer?

Yes, after all, the man behind the Baluchi’s Indian restaurant chain in New York City now might have to fork out close to a million dollars ($967,000 to be precise) in a proposed legal settlement with some of his current and former employees.

Our heart goes out to the Aggarwal bloke.

A million dollars is still a lot of money.

Plus the whole legal process of the last 18 months, including the depositions, must have been very stressful to Baluchi’s owner Rakesh Aggarwal.

We won’t be surprised if the legal stress has subtracted a few years from Rakesh’s life.

Origin of Baluchi’s / Rakesh Aggarwal’s Nightmare
Rakesh Aggarwal’s nightmare started in November 2008 when some of his former and current employees sued Rakesh and his Baluchi’s Continue Reading

Rejoice, all ye cheapos.

Times Square in NYC, one of the famous tourist spots with nothing there (except for the Broadway theatres nearby), now offers free Wi-Fi.

The free wireless Internet service is courtesy of the Times Square Alliance and Yahoo.

Visitors are supposed to get free Wi-Fi via a portal providing latest information about Times Square events and businesses, as well as local weather and news from around the world.

Folks, the next time we’re in the Big Apple we’ll head over to Times Square to see for ourselves how well the free Wi-Fi Internet service works and update this post.

The Pierre Hotel, a major NYC landmark, has reopened recently after a $100 million renovation by its Indian owners, Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces.

Located near Central Park at 5th Avenue and 61 St, the Pierre offers 189 redesigned residential-style guest rooms, including 49 suites.

Pierre, New York City
(Pix: Taj Hotels web site)

Since we have more time than we know what to do with, we played around with booking a Grand 1-Bdrm Suite at the Pierre for September 24 for just one night.

Folks, the rack rate shown us was $13,772.30 (no typo here) for one night.

Cheap, na?

Long Island desis Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani and his wife Varsha Mahender Sabhnani were found guilty of enslaving and abusing two Indonesian women servants Samirah and Eung by a federal court in Central Islip.

The Sabhnanis are residents of Muttontown in Long Island.

Read the full story here.

Credit Suisse investment banker Vikram Gandhi is asking a whopping $20 million for his Upper East Side town house on 74th St in Manhattan, according to today’s Wall Street Journal.

According to the WSJ, Vikram and his socialite wife Meera Gandhi paid $4.3 million for the 18-foot wide limestone town house in 2000 and renovated it.

Source: Brown Harris Stevens

Vikram and Meera’s town house has five bedrooms, a back garden and a roof garden with views of 74th Street, The Carlyle Hotel and the treeline of Central Park.

We wonder what renovations Vikram made to the shack that it now merits an asking price of $20 million. Wow, that’s an appreciation of 365% in seven years.

While we don’t claim to know the specifics of the renovation having never been inside this $20 million Taj Mahal, what we do know is that Meera Gandhi spent two years renovating the town house and enlisted the help of Harvard architect Pedro Castillo and interior decorator Kenneth Alpert.

The town house does look grand and has some interesting history too.

You see, FDR’s widow Eleanor Roosevelt lived in the same town house for a few years before her death in 1962.

Credit Suisse’s web site lists Vikram Gandhi as a

Dévi , the highly acclaimed Indian restaurant in New York City, has failed an inspection conducted by the New York City Department of Health on November 15, 2007 after receiving 31 Violation Points.

Co-chefs Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur are the new owners of Dévi, which reopened on October 22, 2007 after closing on August 27, 2007.

To pass the NYC Health Department inspection, a restaurant must receive 27 Violation Points or less.

Since Dévi received 31 Violation Points, another inspection is required to

Curry in a Hurry Indian restaurant on Lexington Avenue in Murray Hills failed a restaurant inspection conducted by the New York City Department of Health on November 2, 2007 after receiving 35 violation points.

To pass the NYC inspection, a restaurant must receive 27 violation points or less.

Since Curry in a Hurry received 35 Violation Points, another inspection is required to assure that violations have been corrected and the restaurant adequately complies with regulations.

According to the NYC Department of Health inspection report of 11/2/2007, violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.

Sanitary Violations observed at Curry in a Hurry:

1.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.
2.) Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
3.) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
4.) Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.
5.) Hot food not held at or above 140°F.

The NYC Department of Health said a Notice of Violation was not issued as a result of this inspection and that the violation point total received by Curry in a Hurry is above the average violation point total of 14, for all NYC restaurants on their most recent inspection.

Curry in a Hurry – Previous NYC Inspection Reports

Date | Violation Points

10/09/2007 – 26
09/20/2007 – 43
03/07/2007 – 21
03/28/2006 – 4
03/29/2005 – 7

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducts inspections of all food service establishments in the city including restaurants, retail bakeries, and “take outs.”

These inspections are supposed to be unannounced and conducted by Public Health Sanitarians who are trained public health professionals with college degrees and backgrounds in the sciences.

During inspections, these Sanitarians are supposed to spend most of their time evaluating food workers’ practices, including the manner in which they receive and store foods, how they process foods, and the temperatures at which they cook, hold, and reheat foods.

After failing the last two New York City Department of Health inspections, Jewel of India restaurant has fared better in the latest inspection on November 8, 2007.

In the latest inspection by NYC Health Department, Jewel of India received 22 violation points compared to the 40 violation points it received in October 2007 and 44 violation points it got in September 2007.

A NYC restaurant needs a score of 27 or less to pass the NYC Health Dept inspection.

Although an improvement over its previous pathetic performance, Jewel of India’s recent showing is still above