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Bagel Brouhaha: Lawsuit Says You Can't Fake Brooklyn Water
By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 12, 2012
Modified Mar 12, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 12, 2012
Modified Mar 12, 2012
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NYC water—the champagne of municipal tap water—definitely isn't pure. But it does taste good. Now the $2 million dollar question is if the techniques needed to "replicate" our water elsewhere are trade secrets—and if they even work. One Florida man is ready to argue in court the answers to those questions are no and no.
Perhaps you recall the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co., which appeared in Florida in 2009 claiming it could recreate Brooklyn-style water so as to make Brooklyn-style bagels away from the five boroughs ("We have scientific proof to back up every stage of the process," the owner said at the time). The joint was an instant hit—Larry King signed up to help bring franchises to Southern California—and all was great. That is, until owner Steve Fassberg's father-in-law, who helped him design the company's filtration system, went rogue and sold a similar system to a pizza company. Fassberg eventually settled with his father-in-law out of court and sued the pizza company (they settled but the results are confidential). Still, Fassberg's troubles continue.
In addition to a lawsuit filed by the company's former COO, the company is also facing a suit from Andrew Greenbaum, a Boca Raton businessman who bought franchise rights for the store in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Greenbaum is suing the Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. for more than $2 million in damages, "saying he never would have wanted to develop franchises if he hadn't been duped into believing there was a patented process to "Brooklynize" water." According to his lawyer, "The water filtration system is not unique and does not render water equivalent to Brooklyn water. You want Brooklyn water, go to Brooklyn. You want a Brooklyn bagel, go to Brooklyn."
For now the Bagel company's lawyers are saying the suit is "a swirling mass of conflicting allegations" that will be shown as such in court. But in the meantime, we have to agree with the attorney's point: Water filters or no, if you want Brooklyn bagels, you really need to just go to Brooklyn.
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bagels
brooklyn
brooklyn water bagel co.
florida
larry king
lawsuit
water
Garth Johnston
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