EDITOR’S NOTE: “Rat!,” as used in this headline, was meant as an ironic comment about the closing of yet another Boystown establishment by the health department. The owner of Micky’s has now confirmed that the issue was cockroaches.
Micky’s, one of the most popular gay bars in West Hollywood’s Boystown, has had its 30th anniversary celebration interrupted with an abrupt closing by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
A sign posted yesterday on the door to the club, which is located at 8857 Santa Monica Blvd., cites vermin infestation as the reason for the closing. Vermin can include rats, mice, cockroaches or other insects that can transmit infectious diseases. Vermin infestation, according to the Health Department, is “the presence of vermin within the food facility as evidenced by actual live bodies, fresh droppings or vomitus, urine stains, or gnaw marks, that could result in contamination to the food, equipment, packaging, or utensils.”
Micky’s is the second establishment in the Boystown nightlife district to be closed for a vermin infection. The Health Department closed Tender Greens, the restaurant on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Hancock, from Tuesday through Saturday last week for the same reason.
The restaurant at Palihouse, the hotel on the northwest corner of Holloway Drive and Hacienda Place, was closed from Aug. 8 through 10 because of a vermin infestation. Cabo Cantino, the restaurant at 8301 Sunset Blvd., was closed for the same reason from June 19 through 21.
WEHOville has reached out to Michael Niemeyer, the owner of Micky’s, for information about what steps are being taken to clean things up and re-open the club, which is especially popular on Thursday through Sunday nights in West Hollywood and is known in the gay community for its go go boys and large street facing patio.
According to the LA county health inspection report Mickys closing violation involved a few roaches not rats as reported in this article. While roaches are not the most pleasant thought, it’s a far cry from rats as reported. Let’s not start a panic in WEHO
The story does not say the closing was because of rats. It cites vermin, which was what was posted on the bar’s door and which includes mice, rats, roaches and other insects.
The first word in your headline says “Rats”…… logically most readers will assume these businesses have them. A call to the health dept will confirm they do not. It would be fair to correct this don’t you think?
would be good……to have new businesses move in. the neighborhood (and WEHO generally) is changing …..albeit very slowly.
There were no rats or mice in the building and the author of this article knows that.There were 3 cockroaches. Even one cockroach will be a mandatory closing. That’s directly from the inspector s mouth to me. Even one is too many. We are taking every precaution cure the situation. Thanks to all of you for understanding. Michael Niemeyer
The story does not say the closing was because of rats. It cites vermin, which was what was posted on the bar’s door and which includes mice, rats, roaches and other insects. The author of the article was unaware of the specifics because you didn’t respond to the telephone call made by WEHOville before the story was published.
Just saw a rat outside my building the otherday…there is something odd going on. The rats are coming from somewhere…the old post office on San Vicente is probally full of rats now….very close to Mickey’s.
It looks like Micky’s is falling behind in maintenance and keeping their place clean.I guess the owner was getting compliant with his place of business.Losing money for two or three nights will get him off his butt and get his staff into shape to keep things up to sniff.
Micky’s scored 75 out of 100 in its Sept. 24 inspection. That’s pretty low.
Tender Greens scored 88 in its Sept. 17 inspection (when the restaurant was ordered to close). The restaurant reopened Sept. 21; and was closed again on Sept. 25.
You can search for Inspections as well as Closures by zip code or name of restaurant here:
https://ehservices.publichealth.lacounty.gov/ezsearch
After giving up on it three different times since it first opened, I was just starting to like the Weho Tender Greens again and I was there on Tuesday.
This isn’t very encouraging.
Fact: Mickys was sited for 3 dead cockroaches and 1 live one under a beer cooler in the upstairs bar. Mickys is an open bar to the street. The kitchen had no infractions. There’s plenty of rats I’m sure in the alleys in your alley and mine but the notion that rats were found does not appear to be accurate.
While seeing a dermatologist for the last month for another issue I asked him about several little itchy spots on my lower legs that he said are flea bites. I don’t have an animal in my home, nor am I around any. There is one dog in my small building, but the owner brushes the teethe of that dog so it can be assumed the owner also takes the precautions to make the dog free of fleas. I wonder if the sudden discovery of all these rodents, who carry fleas, can be connected to massive homeless crisis in LA?
Having people camping on the sidewalks doesn’t help the problem but are not in and of themselves the cause of these issues. The weather has been favorable to all sorts of pests this year. Fleas are particularly bad.
What is the city doing to prevent rodent infestation? The city sewers are breeding grounds for rodents. Also all of the properties setting unoccupied for upwards of10 years due the Ellis Act are creating problems for all properties in West Hollywood.
Driving home over a night lately there have been a huge amounts of rats on the street, I thought one was a small dog when it ran in front of my car at La Cienega/Santa Monica. I wonder if the city is doing anything to combat this issue in the public domain?
Of course they’re NOT. Though they should be doing something about this kind of thing, along with cleaning the sidewalks, and other mundane stuff like demanding an investigation into alleged murderer Ed Buck. Instead, they’re busy sweeping John Duran’s shenanigans under the rug and sticking their collective noses into national issues over which they have no control over. This kind of local stuff is far below their interest.
Something is happening. I live off Santa Monica at Sycamore and I have been seeing an enormous amount of mice in broad daylight. I’m seeing them spread out over blocks, not rats, mice. I worked in a paleontology lab for 2 years and play close attention to urban animal activity in general and have never seen anything like this in Los Angeles since moving here in 2007. With last year’s typhus spread through fleas on rats, this is serious. Is anyone else seeing mice everywhere?
I’ve lived in the same apt. for decades and never had a problem. Earlier this year my downstairs neighbor had a rat, (so he said, but it could have been a mouse) in his apartment).