Thought this was interesting. Saw this on my local news...
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100825_Cupcake_Lady_s_truck_seized.html
This is weird! Kind of funny though I thought it was going to be a joke of some sort. And no officials knew what was going on...so weird.
It was a scam, right? A bunch of losers in fancy dress wanted free cupcakes, a ride in a truck, and $200? Poor lady...
According to all the reports, they have permits for certain parts of Philly, but news said they were parked in an area where no vending is permitted. I moved to this area in 1985 and am constantly surprised at the bureaucracy and corruption in the city. Parking didn't know about it cause they said it was a License & Inspection issue. I'm surprised they took the whole truck and weren't just fined though.
However, it may be the best $200 they ever spent. All the local networks carried it; the local online news carried it. It was a Twitter rage for a bit. I had three people at work email it to me. More people know about the truck now than EVER. Today the online news said they were almost sold out by noon.
My husband called me immediately after hearing this on his way to work this morning. He said they reported it saying she did not have the correct permits to be where she was. But there is definitely something screwy going on here and not on her end either.....
This is Philadelphia's way to collect money (since they are broke) from people that are actually out working (their butts off) to make a half decent living, when what they really need to do be doing is cutting all of the kickbacks and behind the scene deals they cut with other politicians, city workers and family members!!!
"Yo, Philly, Leave the hard working, law abiding, small business people alone as they pay your paychecks!
Yeah, I know this is a cake site....now stepping down from the soap box!
That's crazy, she lost time, cost of ingredients for cupcakes, and $200...on the other hand she got a whole lot of free advertising. Blessing in disguise!
she got a whole lot of free advertising. Blessing in disguise!
Never thought about that! But you are absolutely correct. I just got an email from my sister 2 minutes ago and guess what its about????? Everyone will be talking about the CUPCAKE LADY!
She'll make the 200 back in no time! Sorry guys-- your plan failed!! You go cupcake lady!
You park in the wrong place anywhere, they tow your car...
You do business where you aren't licensed, they confiscate your hot dog cart... What's the big deal?
Here's the big deal...Philadelphia will only tell (fine) this lady when she's in the WRONG spot, they will not tell her where the right spots are....with exception of Love Park. There are serious grey area in our law here being a moving vendor. They seized her truck without her even opening up her truck or making a sale in the spot they stopped her in....does that sound right to you??? I do not know the fine print of the law so I won't say any more then that but what I do know is that my husband is a master plumber licesenced through Philadelphia and I see first hand how the L&I operates on a daily basis, the law is what they want it to be at any particular time, enough said.
Well that seems stupid.
Found her website - http://www.buttercreamphiladelphia.com/important_updates
7yyrt,
I am glad that you posted that. You can see that she claims she is fighting exactly what I am trying to explain.
In order for anyone who is a lisenced professional (of any kind, in any city)to operate within the law, the law must first be clear and precise. Then what is written as law should be followed on both sides unless an addendum to the law is made. If a law does get changed, removed, etc. then there should be a certain grace period until it goes into effect as a warning to those that must follow it. It should also be printed or posted so that those who must follow it have access to it 24/7. This is where I have an issue big time! Because John may be working in city hall on Monday and tell you this is the law...call back On Wednesday and Nancey will tell you that, that is not the way it is at all, regardless of what is written in the Phila law/code books.
Also, do not think for one moment that Philadelphia does not make an effort to pursue those people who can actually pay fines. So if you can afford to pay they will try and find things that they can twist and strech to say you are doing something wrong. The city has corruption straight up the ladder.
My thought is any normal city would have said to her (since she hadn't even opened up to make a first sale) that where she was parking was not a legal location to do vending, and they would have asked her to move along. Then she could have found a legal location and twittered away to announce the new location. I agree with Suzi, sounds line major corruption Philly.
Sounds like her dissatisfied/jealous/angry competition made a complaint.
That thought had passed through my mind several times.
The mayors brother actually has a cupcake truck........NO, NO, NO....not really. I AM JUST JOKING HERE...trying to throw some humor back in.
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The mayors brother actually has a cupcake truck........NO, NO, NO....not really. I AM JUST JOKING HERE...trying to throw some humor back in. [/quote]
Suzi!!! You made me spit out my coffee. LOLOLOL...sort of like John Street's brother??? Thanks for that.
When she was on Fox News yesterday, she said that she was an attorney and she had a hard time understanding the legal jargon associated with having the cupcake truck.
Suzi!!! You made me spit out my coffee.
Missy - The fact that I just made you spit out your coffee made my day!!
Thanks
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