Exclusive! Where to begin? How about June 25, when sje shocked us all with the news that Flatbush BBQ joint Mama Duke’s was shutting down. An anonymous Guest poster then suggested that the owners might be looking to reopen on Vanderbilt Ave., and stated, quite provocatively, a completely unsubstantiated rumor that “The reason they are leaving is because that predator/slum lord Pintchick raised their rent from 5k to 7k.”
Now, in the “Flatbush BBQ Scene in Crisis” thread, Matthew Pintchik himself advances the story:
“For the record, during the month of June 2005, Mrs. Janice Combs asked PINTCHIK if we would permit her to break her lease at the restaurant. The lease was not up until February of 2006 ! Quite frankly we were dissapointed that she wanted to close … At NO time was there ever a discussion about a lease renewal …”
“When a reporter recently visited our office from a local paper [hmm… wonder where they got the lead? 🙂 -ed.], she verified the facts. The reporter explained that since Mrs. Combs closed the restaurant for reasons not relating to the rent or her landlord, there probably would not be a story written. Too bad ! I would have enjoyed having the facts published. I felt that since this posting was an outright lie I would respond. “It’s sad that some people have nothing to do but make up garbage.”
[We called Pintchik and talked to Matthew – he confirmed it was in fact him who posted these comments to Daily Heights.]
Developing…
LINK:
Flatbush BBQ Scene in Crisis [Daily Heights]
I like the fact that Matthew debunked the unsubstantiated rumor that was quoted as coming directly from the owner. He then went on to say “It’s sad that some people have nothing to do but make up garbage.” thinking it was DeeDee who spread this garbage. Matthew was wrong, it wasn’t DeeDee making up the garbage but our dear friend dan goldstein!
Even better is that dan tries to defend his statement by saying it’s ok because it was just a comment on a blog and so he owes no apology for his false accusation.
So I guess because it’s just a comment on a blog it’s ok to spread whatever rumors we all feel like. Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter if they’re true.
I’ll let you all take this as you will. The way I see it, dan thinks it’s ok to post false information without consequence or apology if it is later found out to be untrue, so long as the forum is appropriate for this type of untruth. So what other forums allow for this behavior from the leader of an organization such as develop don’t destroy?
But where does it say he thought it was DeeDee? And how do you know the guest was Dan?
Oh, I see it’s in the blog, not on the message boards. Got it. Carry on.
Ben, as I said, i posted a comment on this blog that was verbatim from the manager of Mama Duke’s. i’m not a reporter who has to go and verify sources. instead i posted what the manager told me and said so. so the manager lied to me and now Mr. Pintchik has clarified the point.
see its not false information. i posted information given to me by the manager of MamaDukes. so I actually posted what He told ME. as for your insinuation about what it means for my credibility as a leader of an organization, I don’t need to defend my credibility.
so, for the last time, I’ll repeat it. I didn’t report anything that was folse. I reported what was told to me. which turned out to be untrue. as I’m not a paid staff reporter for DHeights (oh that it were) I didn’t spend my time trying to verify. you can be damn sure that anything i do or say for DDDB I spend plenty of time verifying. and when I can’t verify it, i don’t say it.
I am sorry i relayed misinformation. i assumed that the manager was telling me the truth.
There ya go dan, that’s all you needed to do.
See, instead of owning up to the fact that you got some mis-information you tried to defend your right to post whatever you want because it’s just a comment on a blog.
Hey, it happens, you talk to someone, they tell you something, this is a rumor. Nowhere does it say that you can’t or shouldn’t pass along info that you hear. In fact you absolutely should pass this along in a forum like this. These are the comments we like to see.
Because of your elevated visibility in the community, my personal opinion is that you should be a bit more careful in verifying sources before you post things like that because you do have a reputation and credibility to maintain to achieve your goals. Essentially, you should have a higher set of self imposed standards that you look to adhere to, but that’s just my opinion. All this really requires is a little extra comment to help you CYA in case the facts turn out to be different.
I’m glad you did recognize the right thing to do. A good leader recognizes a mistake and owns up to it. This is what builds credibility.
One last thing dan, please keep posting what you hear on the street, at the end of the day it helps us all learn what’s happening out there.