Tapestry closed for two week "vacation"

**BarryG** · 08-22-2012, 08:49 AM

On the owner's Twitter, he lays it on the table -- he owes the city $1 million dollars in "anti-blight" fines.

WTF is an anti-blight fine and is it possible to figure out what he did to rackup $1 million? And while I understand about taking the house to sheriff's sale -- can the city really force someone to shut down their businesses over fines or a lien?

**Hospitalitygirl** · 08-22-2012, 08:55 AM

That's just awful. How does a million dollars in fines accumulate in such a short period of time? There has to be more to this, or a gross miscalculation of said fines. It's not like that's never happened before.

**annie** · 08-22-2012, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Civil Docket

AND NOW, THIS 14TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2012, AFTER A HEARING ON THE ABOVE-CAPTIONED MATTER, THE FOLLOWING IS HEREBY ORDERED / AGREED: DEFENDANT SHALL BRING THE PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE BY INSTALLING 28 WINDOWS AND 2 DOORS BY NOVEMBER 14, 2012. DEFENDANT SHALL OBTAIN A VACANT PROPERTY LICENSE WITHIN 30 DAYS. IN THE EVENT THAT DEFENDANT DOES NOT BRING THE PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE AS STATED IN PARAGRAPH 2 AND DOES NOT OBTAIN A VACANT PROPERTY LICENSE WITHIN THE TIME PERIOD NOTED ABOVE, DEFENDANT AGREES TO PAY A FINE IN THE AMOUNT OF $300.00 PER DAY PER WINDOW FROM THE DATE OF JANUARY 24, 2012. DEFENDANT SHALL PAY A FINE IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,000.00, PAYMENT OF WHICH WILL START IN DECEMBER 2012 AND BE PAYABLE IN 4 INSTALLMENTS OF $3,750.00 AND THE TOTAL TO BE PAID IN ONE YEAR. IN THE EVENT THAT THE FINE IS NOT PAID WITHIN THE ALLOTTED TIME, THE CITY MAY HAVE IT ENTERED AS A JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF THE CITY AND JOINTLY AND SEVERALLY AGAINST THE DEFENDANT BY FILING A PRAECIPE. THE NEXT COURT DATE IS DECEMBER 4, 2012 AT 1:00 PM IN COURTROOM 446 IN CITY HALL. ....BY THE COURT: BRADLEY K. MOSS, J.

He's in the Civil Docket with the city over two vacant properties on S. 6th Street. $300 per day per window adds up to $1 million+ pretty fast. I guess he's assuming he can't bring the property into compliance and get a vacant property license? 28 windows and two doors plus a vacant property license seem a lot cheaper than the fines...which is probably the point, no?

**BarryG** · 08-22-2012, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by annie

He's in the Civil Docket with the city over two vacant properties on S. 6th Street. $300 per day per window adds up to $1 million+ pretty fast. I guess he's assuming he can't bring the property into compliance and get a vacant property license? 28 windows and two doors plus a vacant property license seem a lot cheaper than the fines...which is probably the point, no?

Thanks Annie. Which properties?

**annie** · 08-22-2012, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by BarryG

Thanks Annie. Which properties?

Unless I'm reading the docket wrong, 1815 SOUTH 6TH STREET and 1325 SOUTH 6TH STREET.

**BarryG** · 08-22-2012, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by annie

Unless I'm reading the docket wrong, 1815 SOUTH 6TH STREET and 1325 SOUTH 6TH STREET.

Oh so he is a jackoff who owns abandoned buildings and won't keep them up to code. The set him up with a payment plan and grace period, all he needed to do was get a license within 30 days... which he didn't. Good for the city for going after these *******s like this.

Would be bad if this causes him to shut down the business though...

**annie** · 08-22-2012, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by BarryG

Would be bad if this causes him to shut down the business though...

A $33K sales and usage tax lien from the state earlier this year might be hampering his ability to have the cash to do the repairs. Not to be heartless, he could be a good guy but he also might have brought this on himself.

**The Count** · 08-22-2012, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by annie

He's in the Civil Docket with the city over two vacant properties on S. 6th Street. $300 per day per window adds up to $1 million+ pretty fast. I guess he's assuming he can't bring the property into compliance and get a vacant property license? 28 windows and two doors plus a vacant property license seem a lot cheaper than the fines...which is probably the point, no?

Looks like he should have fixed the windows of his blighted property instead of whining like a loser on twitter.

**annie** · 08-22-2012, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by The Count

Looks like he should have fixed the windows of his blighted property instead of whining like a loser on twitter.

The judgement was just on the 14th so he still has time to get the license and until November 14th to bring everything into compliance.

**Hospitalitygirl** · 08-22-2012, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by annie

The judgement was just on the 14th so he still has time to get the license and until November 14th to bring everything into compliance.

Then he should stop being a whinging, butthurt twat and take care of it.

**annie** · 08-22-2012, 11:51 AM

Do You Feel Bad for the Guy Who Owns This House?

No. I definitely do not now.

**bluecuracao** · 08-22-2012, 12:06 PM

“This is a shell in not such a great neighborhood,” Vivekananthan argued. “It isn’t even worth a tenth of that!”

Oh my god, why did he even buy the building then?

**annie** · 08-22-2012, 12:08 PM

But if you want to buy the building for a tenth of that plus $85,000 he will sell it to you.

1815 South 6th Street #17, Philadelphia PA - Trulia

**darthsinatra** · 08-22-2012, 02:57 PM

Kar is being quite glib about this whole thing. I don't think he realizes that his attitude, as well as his actions in letting that property go derelict, will have a negative effect on Tapestry's business. People remember this kind of stuff and savvy neighbors might choose to spend their entertainment dollars elsewhere (Bainbridge Street Barrel House and Growlers, I'm looking in your direction) if the guy can't be bothered to obey laws meant to improve neighborhoods.

**jettore** · 08-22-2012, 06:27 PM

Wow, this guy is something. Reading this does make me angry and he isn't very smart posting on Twitter when all of this information is fairly easy to find. I'll probably never walk into Tapestry again.

**thegreattwizz** · 08-22-2012, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by annie

A $33K sales and usage tax lien from the state earlier this year might be hampering his ability to have the cash to do the repairs. Not to be heartless, he could be a good guy but he also might have brought this on himself.

You don't accumulate a $33k sales tax lien overnight. I've run many a business in PA, and of all things, their collection of sales tax is one of the most lenient things ever. He probably thought he could use the sales tax money as cash flow, and got caught with his pants down. Or City Hall pressed the matter with Harrisburg; or vice versa. Either way, it looks as though he pissed off the wrong guys.

I've only been there a couple times, but don't see myself going back. Especially after the AMAZING meal and bourbon at The Twisted Tail on Sunday.

**Jayfar** · 08-22-2012, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by thegreattwizz

You don't accumulate a $33k sales tax lien overnight. I've run many a business in PA, and of all things, their collection of sales tax is one of the most lenient things ever. He probably thought he could use the sales tax money as cash flow, and got caught with his pants down. Or City Hall pressed the matter with Harrisburg; or vice versa. Either way, it looks as though he pissed off the wrong guys.

PA Sales Tax collection is not to be messed with. Back in the 80s, a luncheonette owner I knew near 5th & Olney was hauled off to jail for failure to remit his sales taxes. The state was in the mood for making an example, so they even had news vans there as they took him in and padlocked his place. He ended up serving a sentence of a number of months.

**Volanova** · 08-23-2012, 09:47 AM

So...he's complaining about it being in a not-so-nice neighborhood. He has a chance to actively improve the neighborhood by fixing up this building, but instead of doing so, complains about fines levied on him for continuing to blight said neighborhood. My sympathy is nonexistent for this fellow. Good on the city for enforcing the rules! If they keep this up, then maybe, just maybe, we'll see a turnaround in some of these neighborhoods.