By Chanie Kozliner
I was appalled by a recently submitted article entitled “Dry Cleaners Show Their True Colors.”
I have been living in Crown Heights for over 20 years and I have never had an issue with Happy Dry Cleaners. On the contrary, the owner is always friendly. When I go in to pick up clothing, we often joke and chat.
When COLlive featured the long Erev Shabbos line winding around the block, I went into the store to jokingly inform Youn (the name of owner) that she was becoming famous.
I was therefore shocked to read of an incident related to the cleaners being accused of antisemitism. After reviewing the article, something didn’t quite add up. It wasn’t like Youn to post anything derogatory. As well, from a business vantage point, it didn’t make sense for her to post a news item that would inevitably destroy her business.
Bothered by the article, I went into the store to discuss the matter with Youn. She stated that she didn’t understand the content of the signs she posted and certainly didn’t realize they were antisemitic.
She proceeded to explain: A neighboring store owner had informed her that many police officers and inspectors were in the neighborhood and giving out fines to those without masks. When Youn saw photos of Jews wearing masks, she intended to warn her customers so that they would not receive heavy fines. By posting those pictures all over the front of her store, she hoped to warn her customers.
Youn said many customers entered her store outraged. As soon as she was told that the signs were not pro-Jews, she immediately took them down.
We discussed writing a letter to explain the misunderstanding. She asked me if I would be able to assist her. I did, and told her I would publicly share her letter.
We live in very chaotic times. Antisemitism is rampant. However, if something doesn’t make sense, if our gut senses something wrong, we do have the ability to ask, engage, and communicate.
Anyone who was outraged by what occurred could have approached her directly instead of assuming the worst and publicly posting with antagonizing headlines.
If you read an article or hear about a story online that doesn’t sit well with you, research the story and find out the truth.
Not everything we read is accurate. Not every single story is anti-Semitic, although some may appear to be.
As Jews, we have the responsibility to be a light unto the nations. Let us act respectfully and communicate when something doesn’t sit well with us. Engaging in healthy dialogue is far more effective than harboring anger and resentment toward others.
And speaking of cleaners, let’s strive to stay clean and judge others favorably without staining reputations and letting off steam.
She is currently offering a new special for hat cleaning. Ask her about it!
I’d like to share Youn’s apology for the misunderstanding:
Dear valued customers,
We would like to take this opportunity to clarify the confusion and misunderstanding related to offensive signs recently posted in our store.
We had seen articles sharing images of Orthodox Jews wearing masks and simply intended to warn our customers to take safety precautions, and wear masks. We were aware that cops were fining anyone on the street not wearing a mask.
We do not read English well and we were not aware that the articles contained content that was hurtful and offensive. We posted the signs based solely on the pictures displayed.
Upon closer examination, the images were not even of Crown Heights residents as was pointed out to us by a concerned resident of Crown Heights.
As soon as we were informed, we immediately took them down.
We respectfully apologize for posting the signs before doing a thorough investigation regarding their content and context. We also apologize to any customers we may have offended.
Since English is not our first language, if there is ever any future misunderstanding, please feel free to directly discuss the issue with us.
We have proudly served Crown Heights and the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidim for over 20 years.
As members of this vibrant community, we are actively involved with various public services and we support local organizations.
Our main goal is to continue to serve you as an essential business during this pandemic.
We thank you for your continued patronage and we look forward to providing you with the excellent services that you have come to expect from us.
Yours,
Happy Dry Cleaners
20 years ago when I was a bachur, the woman there used to tell me that she had a daughter that was very nice and smart and she wanted me to meet her.
I don’t think their anti semites, although If I owned a retail store on Kingston I probably would be one.
Either way, I don’t live in CH anymore, but the Junik’s are fine people to support
I agree that we should have adult conversations. But what she posted is still suspicious and negative toward Jews. Also the newspapers didn’t show Jews wearing masks. It showed Jews not wearing masks.
Also the main point of his article was to promote Jewish businesses, which still stands.
When you look at the newspaper clippings, they’re not what she describes and sooo clearly anti Semitic!!
Why would she put them up when her customers are Jewish
It goes along with the anti Semitism which never pays.
Have YOU ever made a mistake unintentionally, and then tried to undo it when your mistake was pointed out TO YOU?
Then doesn’t Youn have the same right that you do? Without being judged so harshly, as some are doing here?
To answer your question: Did you read her letter, or not? She answered your question in her letter!
Clear to you but perhaps not to her.
I know I’m no expert in Chinese newspapers
Welcome to the real world…. actions have consequences. She thought she was being funny?? she didn’t know it was offensive?? on what planet does she live on? and what planet does she think we live on that we would buy such an excuse….
That’s exactly right- she now regrets being stupid enough to alienate her client base. So digs herself even deeper into a hole.
She did not do it out of “being funny” as you state. She did not realize. But I guess YOU have never made an accidental mistake, right? On what planet do YOU live, where no one but her makes a mistake? Given Youn’s over 20 years of superbly tireless, courteous service to the community with nary a breath of offense (when she surely could, given some of our people’s habit of pushing the envelope on chutzpah toward merchants!), I have to ask you who YOUR G-d is, who is SO merciless as you are here? I for one, my fellow… Read more »
Support Jewish businesses! A simple sign that says “WEAR A MASK OR NO ENTRY” – and refusing to serve customers without a mask would have been sufficient and more effective. It’s working for other businesses who choose to enforce it. I was at a nail salon that same day and the owner was upset- she said that China is handling the virus well, and that in US rates are higher because no one in our community is wearing masks. The signs may have been well intentioned to stop the spread, but it is still not clear what the owner’s viewpoints… Read more »
I think they’re feeling the heat (financially) and trying to backtrack.
This is all very nice but there are 5 other Yiddishe families that do this for their parnasa in the neighborhood. Why not support another yid??
👍👍👍
While it is certainly admirable to exclusively give all your business to Jewish businesses, tell me something: Do you EVER go to Rite Aid? Do you ever go to Target? How about Amazon.com? Costco? Until you stop these and direct ALL of your business to “Yiddishe families that do this for their parnasa” you have no business criticizing like this. Maybe many of the families who bring their dry cleaning to Youn also would never buy their kosher meat at Costco like maybe you do, or they do not buy their clothing anywhere else than Kingston Avenue. Are they judging… Read more »
You say why don’t we support another Jew I could not find the right way how to explain it so I’ll just leave it at that
I think you missed the main point!
In our small closed nit community we need each others help to stay afloat especially in these trying times! Even if they never posted such horrifying pictures, why would a lubavicher ever ‘want’ to support these people over our fellow lubavichers??? Besides, according to halacha ,is there even a heter? They need to be a 1/6 cheaper minimum to be even ‘allowed’ to go to non jews if there are jewish cleaners. And btw- ‘distance’ isn’t a heter either!
Be real with yourself, and understand who we are. And be proud of it!
Did you mean knit??
Come onnn, you’ve never had a typo before?
You know what they meant. Seriously how old are you that you disregard the rest of the comment – which by the way, was a very good point – and you just pick on the spelling of one word!?!
Very nice.
Regardless support your Jewish cleaners in the Neighbourhood.
They want the business. They aren’t the nicest people to us in the first place. If you have a problem, forget it, they get nasty. We have plenty of our own cleaners in the neighborhood, who we should support before them.
Have you actually ever even met Youn?
Yes, take your business anywhere you want, but don’t lump together ALL gentile-owned businesses as “aren’t the nicest people to us in the first place….they get nasty.”
Thank you for this lesson
I would take this apology with a grain of salt. (Disclosure, I personally use a non Jewish cleaners not in crown heights)
Which local organizations do they support and what are they involved in with the community?
Go in and ask her what she meant!
Don’t assume things are untrue
It was very sweet of you to get to the bottom of it.
Still, there are Jewish dry cleaners in the shchune
Chanie….very nice of you. I hope she gives you free cleaning for a long time but you wrote the article and the apology..nothing in there smells like a real apology from Happy Cleaners. Sorry. I don’t buy it.
This apology and these words are from Chanie. Not from happy cleaners. Our community has been a goldmine for them. No more!! They are not nice to our community
I worked with her.She gave me her apology and I clarified the misunderstanding.
This is CRAZY. I am absolutely stunned at how many positive votes are going with such hateful and unrelentingly mean-spirited posts I am reading here from my fellow Yidden. SUCH a chilul!
What part of what Youn’s letter above fails to “smell like a real apology,” for Pete’s sake?
HOW would YOU word a “real apology” letter any better than that?
They are not used to receiving sincere apologies.
Therefore when they see one it arouses suspicion.
Not everything is about money. I don’t need any free services in exchange for being open and communicative. The story didn’t make sense so I went to ask her what happened. To me she was apologetic and remorseful. Nothing fishy or suspicious about anything she said. She said people came in to the store and were upset and she didn’t understand why. As soon as she was told, she took the articles down. If she had put them up intentionally and maliciously she would have kept them up. This article is about engaging with others who you interact with daily.… Read more »
I started using Albany cleaners On Union St and I feel so much better supporting a frum business regardless. They are also very attentive , polite, and a pleasure to deal with
Communication is key! Don’t assume!
There is ZERO inyan of “Lkaf Zchus” by a goy. Go learn!
Easy to apologize when it starts pinching the pocket… still no reason to give them our business when there are enough Jewish-owned cleaners in the neighborhood that can use it more….
for being Motzei Shem ra
Am Haaretz there’s no inyan by goyim of motzei Shem ra – you’re probably the same guy who said we should be Dan Lkaf Zchus smh
If we could support other yidden then that’s what we should do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bull
she does indeed seem like a sweet lady whenever i have interacted with her, and I too was surprised, but the story she shared with you just doesn’t fly
she speaks English well enough to know what the article said,
there were many ways she can encourage people to wear masks without putting up that article
something just doesn’t smell right
on point. easy to apologize when you realize you have hurt yourself in the process of showing your true colors
Finally Happy Dry Cleaners is the best but I didn’t want to support an anti-sematic organization! Now tzeis chem lshalom 🙂
Better give business to a yid
They only wrote this because they want their business, they are not known as honest people.
Refrain from giving them business and support the yiden even if their prices are high.
Simple. Support our own yidden
Let’s focus on the point of what was written.
The article was about being open and communicative with others.
No one will negate the importance of supporting Jewish businesses.
This article was not written to promote this cleaners over Jewish owned cleaners.
Please read properly without getting defensive.
If you have a cleaners that you love to support,that is fabulous!
Be open to communicate with Jewish businesses too!
Stop spreading covid-19
Bottom line. She was happy to explain the misunderstanding.
That is important.
How many Jewish businesses are open and forthcoming and apologize when they are wrong?
We can learn from everyone.
Even a non Jewish dry cleaners.
Not everyone is out to get you.
Important to realize this.
I’d be curious if the commenters that are suspicious of her character ever engaged with her in a polite fashion.
yet still don’t believe her story here
I don’t believe this was a misunderstanding on her part
those articles were pretty clear
Not when you don’t speak the language
If you ever engaged with the Jewish community in a polite fashion.
Ignorance is no way to confront an issue. There are other signs in the store in perfectly written English. Please don’t use the excuse that she or her employees cannot read. The store owner wrote or approved those letters in the store, like the one about leaving items for more then a certain amount of time.
They messed up. As a community, we should learn from that mistake and go elsewhere.
The article does not say to support non Jewish businesses!
Of course we have to support each other!
I understood that this is about not assuming the worst about people without verifying the story.
They also posted newspapers with conspiracy theories after 9/11 so I wouldn’t take their apologies or “lack of English” for real! Scread to loose business is the reason they took it down.
Why are we not supporting our own people. Who help and give continuously to Shul him and those that need help
They wouldn’t put things up that would make them lose customers or business.
Imagine vice versa, how much business a Jew would have if he had a cleaners in a heavily populated Chinese area? …. probably close to nothing !
That’s only coz there’d be 10 other cleaners on the same block! 🤣
Happy dry cleaners have never dealt nicely with their Jewish customers
well i see you haven’t read the article or comments. others say otherwise…
Taking when I there…
I’m not buying her “ no English “…. she has perfect English and this is even not an apology
Her English is far from perfect.
Take the articles in to her store and she if she can read them
no one is saying not to.support jews
I think bachurim use them.most because they are open late
This is how goyim made progroms against yiden. It’s pretty low of the Jewish cleaners to keep making up stories like this. Last time she was accused of saying anti Semitic stuff. She is not that type. You know who you are.
Thank you Chanie Kozliner!
Not a good reason to go back to them!
Support lubavitch
Chinese make better neighbors than blacks. They don’t attack Jews.
She has employee that are african american who speak perfect english and know exactly what was written there.
A real apology saying the truth would have been better.
If they don’t read english maybe they mix up the chemicals too? or cannot read the notes on the ticket slip?
By reading the comments it is noticeable that many people have an issue with the concept of apology.
The article had a message.
Not to be judgemental and accusatory,but to be open and engaging with others.
However ,people are uncomfortable with truth and accountability.
Even when one does take responsibility, people find it suspicious and not sincere.
Instead of acknowledging accountability, the fingers come out pointing with accusations and judgement.
Humans aren’t perfect.
When people own up to their imperfections,acknowledge the humility and growth that comes with apologizing.
“As members of this vibrant community, we are actively involved with various public services and we support local organizations”
May we know which exactly??
There are over 5 Frum owned cleaners in crown heights. I can’t understand why anyone would chose to use “not so” happy cleaners
S.B.Y.O
Shop by your own
It’s about time that we, the Jews should have faith in G-D and trust him that G-D and G-D alone provides for us, and by having that in mind we should only support your own people.
The Red Apple Nail salon, an Asian nail salon in Flatbush, was successfully shut down by black people who also objected to non-black businesses in their neighborhood, after a customer argument in 2018. In 1995, Al Sharpton helped incite the firebombing of Freddy’s Fashionmart, a Jewish owned store in Harlem for over 40 years. https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/why-do-democrats-honor-al-sharpton/2019/05/19/ In 1990, Al Sharpton and Sonny Carson, boycotted a Korean owned fruit store in Flatbush Brooklyn, for nine straight months. In 1991, Sharpton, turned a car accident into the Crown Heights riots. Finding a reason to exclude business competition from Asians in a Jewish neighborhood… Read more »
the way we treated her was such a chilul hashem and not at all becoming Am Kadosh
Thanks
Why would she put up articles that would certainly jeopardize her business
No one answered that here.
Obviously she did not realize what the articles were about.
People make mistakes all the time.
No reason to accuse her of being a Jew hater.Ridiculous.
Maybe she isn’t your best friend but that doesn’t make her a hater.
They have a way to flag customers as “Difficult Customer” if you look at the screen. I guess i got flagged when I brought back an article of clothing that a stain wasn’t removed. I was polite about I believe and I caught a glimpse of it by mistake. I have not gone back since!!!
I have also been flagged as a difficult customer because I spoke up rather than pay when my dress was not ironed properly. I have heard the workers discussing with the owner about rich jews who are never happy etc. I will not give them my business
Where else can you pick up your clothing so close to Shabbos and YT?
Good to have a go to.
Support the shechuna but be appreciative of others as well.
BH, Any Frum Yiddishe Heimishe Shomer Shabbos Store/Business on Every Friday can Not stay open till Shabbos Starts, They Need to Close a few hours before so they themself can prepare along with their families for Shabbos Kodesh. Erev Yom Tov is the same thing. As Shomer Shabbos Frum Yidden, We are Happy, Proud & Excited to not just close all our businesses for Shabbos/Yom Tov etc, But to close them early in the afternoon so we can prepare our families and be fully ready with the proper Kovod for Shabbos Kodesh, Now if we respect our community & if we respect… Read more »
How was she able to write that message with proper English grammar and vocabulary if she doesn’t “speak English” if she can write that message she can understand what the newspaper says
How were you able to write your comment with proper English and vocabulary if you weren’t able to read the article that says clearly (read slowly and take your time, no rush):
“We discussed writing a letter to explain the misunderstanding. She asked me if I would be able to assist her. I did, and told her I would publicly share her letter.”
She had a family member help her with a draft and I helped her as well.
Support the stores that provide good service at good prices.
Competition is good for consumers (and bad for store owners).
If we must give tzedakah to goyim (to prevent “aiva”) kal v’chomer we must support their businesses, especially when they service our community.
Just be a mentch and make a kiddush Hashem because acting like a behayma (lack of manners, hot headed stupidity, dishonesty etc) is the greatest harm to our community.
Can someone tell me how she wrote such a ‘sophisticated’ letter without realizing what it says in a simple article?????
How were you able to write such a ‘sophisticated’ comment if you weren’t able to read the article that says clearly (read slowly and take your time, no rush):
“We discussed writing a letter to explain the misunderstanding. She asked me if I would be able to assist her. I did, and told her I would publicly share her letter.”
I have a simple question: did their Business suffer after the COL report went viral in Crown Heights?
its very nice to always forgive, but we need to take action, anyone that does not appriciate the jewish business enough does not deserve it.
{regardless we should be supporting jews and using jewish business}
Just wear your masks…plain and simple. People should know by now that if you don’t wear a mask, you can’t enter a store. This has nothing to due with race or being anti-Semetic. JUST WEAR YOUR MASKS PEOPLE! Why is this so hard to do? Literally acting like children, not wanting to put on masks and attacking a business that is basically saying that. Stop putting race and any other bs into this equation. Another group of people that seems to jump into these race wars…lol..I wonder what other ethnicities play the race card…LOL stop acting like you’re above it… Read more »
My parents z”l were both Holocaust survivors, so I am very aware of so-called “nice” neighbors who turn on Jews.
Now, a few years ago I was standing in front of my house when a neighbor, a middle-aged Chinese immigrant female, walked over and said in her ugly accent, “I kill your people.”
I said, “What?!”
And that beast replied, “I kill all Jewish people.”
The Chinese are atheists and many are VERY anti-Semitic.
It is no coincidence that Covid comes from China. Hashem is sending a warning about the evil accursed Chinese.
Beware of the Chinese!