Results tagged “flinebagels”

"If you can't beat 'em, psych 'em out" seems to be the tactic of the Brooklyn bagel shop that incited the ire of the MTA when it used MTA symbols. The shop, the former "F Line Bagels," was hit with a cease and desist from the MTA last March and eight month laters, fined and forced to remove the various subway signage the owners bought from the MTA. Deciding that a new sign would only be good if it could capture some of that F line goodness, the owners are installing a backwards-F sign, with one owner saying, "People can pronounce it any way they want. It'll be kind of like Toys 'R' Us." Ooh, that's a good idea - maybe they should sell toys, too, with a giraffe hawking them.

Even when Gothamist is half way around the world, we cannot get away from timely NYC topics. Yesterday, we wrote about the MTA's demand that F Line Bagels remove any MTA-related signage and decor from the premises, plus pay a fine, and a few hours later, we wandered into a "New York style deli" in a trendy Hong Kong neighborhood... that had a huge subway map and Metrocard behind the counter! Of course, the subway map is on its side, which makes it pretty difficult to really read, but we're sure that if the MTA's lawyers could find a way to convince an Asian country that copyright infringement was wrong, they would.

Following up eight months after MTA told Carroll Gardens bagel shop, F Line Bagels (decorated with various official MTA merchandise), to cease-and-desist using the anything-MTA-related in their store, a judge ruled that the store must indeed cease using MTA logos and materials. The judge said the Assad brothers just need to cover up the MTA logos, but the MTA wants the signs totally removed PLUS $5,000 in licensing fees. Clearly, no settlement was ever brokered, but did the Assads' lawyer try hard enough? Like offering free bagels for MTA employees? Faried Assad tells NY1, "t's not like we're stamping the bagels with an F, or an A, or whatever it is. We're not making money from whatever they're providing," and says that the store can't afford to pay the fees - they already spent $1,000 to subway-ify the store! Unfortunately, they will face contempt charges if they can't pay the $5,000.

F Line Bagels, the new Smith Street bagel shop (see the nice exterior shot from Curbed) that has raised the ire of the MTA for using various subway memorabilia in the store, say they will propose a settlement to end the issues. The MTA issued a cease-and-desist to the shop, claiming that the shop used its trademarked items improperly and is infringing on the MTA's intellectual property. Okay, Gothamist gets that, but is making stupid decisions and running an agency into the ground also the MTA's intellectual property, 'cause we were just wondering. Anyway, now the brothers who own the joint will apply for a license and hope to pay a nominal fee for using the subway swag. Their lawyer also could not avoid a pun, saying, "We will sit with [the MTA], break bread and hopefully come up with a deal."

It looks like the MTA is doing what matters: The NY Post reports that the MTA is busting a Brooklyn bagelry, F Line Bagels in Carroll Gardens, for mentioning the subway in its name and in its store's decorations. Apparently an MTA lawyer went into their store to let them know that the MTA wants the Smith Street store cease-and-desist with its various subway memorabilia, not to mention the store's name, or pay the MTA a licensing fee. The owner, Farid Assad, said he decorated the store with signs and pole he found on the MTA website, saying, "If they don't want people to use this stuff, then why make it available for anyone to buy? We bought the stuff on the MTA Web site, so we assumed it would be OK to use it." Mister, the MTA is not supposed to make sense, okay? Just because the MTA is trashing their stuff doesn't mean it's supposed to be enjoyed by mom-and-pop businesses. Of course, Gothamist hasn't visited F Line Bagels, so if anyone has, let us know; we'd understand that the MTA would be upset if the store's bagels absolutely sucked.