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Letters To The Editor Editor: Your editorial about ticketing for sidewalk garbage removal (in the February 8 issue) was perfect. I have also received summonses here on Farragut Road. It's impossible for us to clean up everybody else's garbage… Sincerely, Theresa Scalise
A Review Of CW11's "Facts" Editor's note: The following letter was sent to us in answer to our story regarding a Canarsien's alleged discovery of what appeared to be a mouse (a real, non-electronic animal!) in what she said was a take-out lunch from a Chinese restaurant here: To Our Fellow Journalists, We ask that you review the facts in our statement thoroughly and fairly. We believe considerable misstatement and misunderstanding has surrounded this matter, and as fellow-journalists, we hope you will review the facts and report them fairly as you find them. On Monday, January 29th, the CW11 News at Ten reported a story about a customer who claimed she was served an order of chicken and broccoli from a restaurant in Brooklyn containing a mouse. An employee of the restaurant denied that claim. Although the restaurant has been cited several times in the past two years by the Department of Health for "evidence of mice" and other unsanitary conditions, CW11 did not endorse the customer's claim. The story even noted that some claims of foreign matter in fast food - such as the infamous "finger in the chili" incident - are not always legitimate. To resolve any question whether the morsel was a rodent or not, CW11 arranged with the customer to have the item tested. On Wednesday, January 31st, an experienced, reputable food-testing laboratory dissected the specimen and - finding it contained claws, teeth, testicles and ribs - concluded that it was the carcass of a rodent. NYC Council Member John Liu contacted the station and informed us that these stories had generated considerable concern from the community. He also wrote in a letter to CW11 that if the station provided him with a copy of the laboratory report, he would "make a full apology for questioning the veracity of its Monday night news report." CW11 supplied a copy of the report to Mr. Liu, but no apology has been received. Instead, Councilman Liu has since questioned the credibility of the laboratory and publicly stated that he believes the lab report is "false." He has criticized the outside appearance of the lab's building and claimed the report was "rife with spelling errors" as points of concern to question the authenticity of the findings. Though there were two typos, this does not negate the findings. Some have questioned the lab's legal authority to operate in New York. However, the lab that was used to identify this food morsel has been a registered corporation in the state for 26 years. American Technical Laboratories, Inc. (d/b/a "Ameritech") is a registered for-profit corporation in New York State reg. #647427) with corporate registration dating back to Aug. 27, 1980. In fact, Ameritech has been used for research by many universities and national health agencies. We continue to maintain the story has no ethnic element. CW11 would naturally report about a rodent served in food no matter what restaurant served it or the Continued from pagetype of cuisine that they serve. We understand that the content of some stories sometimes has emotional repercussions and we empathize with those feelings. We are a staunch supporter of the Asian Community and have demonstrated that support overthe years through various partnerships, philanthropic efforts andmeaningful dialogue. It is and will always be our goal to report the news in the most fair, balanced and compassionate manner possible.CW11 stands behind the accuracy of this news report, and believes the story provides no basis for legitimate controversy. While the discovery of a rodent served in restaurant food might legitimately justify criticism of the restaurant, we consider this story one that had to be reported to our viewers as a matter of public health and should not be the basis of an attack on the station. Thank you, CW11 Management
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