The West Village's storied Magnolia Bakery was shuttered by the Health Department Thursday due to a mouse infestation. Spokespeople predicted the Bleecker Street shop would reopen today, but a call to the bakery has confirmed that it remains closed.
Magnolia PR rep Sara Gramling explained that the mice were confined to the bakery's basement, where they had been driven as a result of flooding from Hurricane Sandy. Now that's brilliant spin: making your store's rodent problem sound like a FEMA storm shelter.
In recent years, Magnolia has established franchise locations on such distant shores as Los Angeles, Qatar, and even the Upper East Side. But it's this, the original Magnolia, that has become a New York landmark and Sex and the City bus tour mainstay.
Outside the bakery, morale is low. The New York Post spoke with would-be patron Dave Harshbarger: "I can't believe I came all the way from Pittsburgh for a rat-cake!"
Get your facts straight, Dave. You came all the way from Pittsburgh for a mouse-cake.
[Image via Getty]