Owner Spells Out His Dare

Mr. Surfas, whose father launched the business 69 years ago, pledged that he is ready to swing back after City Hall lands its best punch. If the Community Development Agency is determined to force him to move his blue ribbon business out of town by Jan. 15 — against his will — it can start dialing the Sheriff’s Dept. branch of Bekins now, Mr. Surfas said. Uniformed officers can place the extensive inventory of Surfas Restaurant Design and Food Supply in the center of National Boulevard. “If the city lets Trader Joe’s do that,” Mr. Surfas added, “I am sure they will do the same for me. I will do just what the city allows Trader Joe’s to do. Ninety percent of the time when you go past Trader Joe’s, they have palettes and boxes blocking the street. Should be all right for me, too.”

Postscript

He felt increasingly emboldened the longer he described his latest challenge to City Hall, “City Hall has tried every trick with me,” Mr. Surfas said. “None worked. They like to intimidate people. They are picking on the wrong guy.”