Alice's Tea Cup Sues City Over Closing

A popular New York tea chain, Alice's Tea Cup, is suing the Bloomberg administration over a series of inspections that closed its Upper East Side branch for days in March 2007, harming business and the establishment's local reputation, according to a suit filed yesterday in state Supreme Court.

The restaurant's owners say the city was too slow to reinspect the restaurant at 156 E. 64th St. after it was closed on March 2, 2007 and then the city applied overly stringent standards in subsequent inspections.

One of the franchise managers, Michael Eisenberg, asked that the restaurant be reinspected immediately and was told by an inspector to "fax Mayor Bloomberg" with his complaints. The restaurant was forced to cancel existing reservations, including a 50-member bridal party.

When the teahouse reopened on March 10, the restaurant claims it suffered from "bad publicity" and never regained its former popularity.

A spokeswoman for the New York City law department said the city had not received the legal papers yet and declined to comment.