Royal Pantry shut down by Amsterdam Codes

AMSTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) -2,500 pounds of vegetables sit behind Royal Pantry Corporation, waiting to be thrown out. Director Everett Flint said he couldn’t give it away like he does every Tuesday.

“The notice was posted on our pantry door that we had to suspend our pantry operations because of the violation of our pantry needing to go through proper zoning.”

NEWS10's Anthony Krolikowski emailed Mayor Michael Cinquanti and asked him why the City shut the pantry down. He replied with the following statement:

The Code Enforcement Department has been attempting to communicate with the operators of Royal Pantry Corporation for several weeks regarding their operation of a food pantry outside 47-49 Market Street without having submitted any applications to the Planning Commission for site plan approval.  The location of their operation is within a few feet of the convergence of two one-way streets that merge in front of the Public Safety Building, which is where the Amsterdam Police Department, Amsterdam Fire Department and Amsterdam City Court are located.  The pantry has operated on Tuesday afternoons during the time of day when City Court is in session.  The area in front of the food pantry has a high amount of traffic and the City has concerns about the safe flow of vehicular traffic. The City is likewise concerned for pedestrians at the location, including the individuals that the food pantry is serving.  After having a number of unsuccessful interactions with their operators, code enforcement issued a Notice of Violation and Order to Remedy on Monday, June 23.   For whatever reason, the operators have refused to submit any application to the Planning Commission.  Yesterday, City officials had a meeting with one of the operators of the food pantry and it was requested that the City provide a waiver exempting the food pantry from the applicable codes prior to obtaining site plan approval.  The City is not agreeable to doing this for the safety concerns outlined above. The City fully supports the endeavor of Royal Pantry Corporation and it is believed that if they are willing to comply with all applicable city codes, they can achieve great success.   Having a worthwhile idea or pursuing a worthwhile cause is not a basis to consciously disregard city codes and planning procedures.  And here, there is a safety risk to others that the operators of the food pantry appear to want the City to disregard in favor of their endeavor.  On behalf of our City, I wish them great success.  It is believed that the sooner that the operators of the food pantry begin to comply with the applicable codes and planning procedures, the sooner they will find this success.  It is believed that the social media campaign that has been rolled out instead of pursuing appropriate planning is counterproductive.

What started with around 100 families coming to get free food had grown upwards to 400 every week. That forced Flint to expand onto the sidewalk.

Outside the pantry, one woman opened the community fridge and found nothing inside. When Flint told her the pantry was closed, she cried.

If he gave out any of the produce, Flint could face up to a $1,000 fine or one year behind bars. “We went to City Hall and requested an emergency exemption from the code violation so we were able to still distribute the food that we had and the city denied us.”

This is not the pantry’s first interaction with City officials. Flint claimed that a month and a half ago, the City said it was illegal to have tables of food on the sidewalk. He then moved outside operations to the side of the building with the landlord’s approval.

The Royal Pantry team will meet with Mayor Cinquanti on Thursday to discuss the best path forward. In the meantime, Flint will be throwing away all of the vegetables.

Assemblymember Angelo Santabarbara sent the following statement in response to the closure:

The Royal Pantry is an important resource for families in Amsterdam. I’ve stepped in to help coordinate a resolution with the city and secured $10,000 in funding to support the pantry’s operations. My goal is to make sure they can continue serving those who depend on them each week.