Metro

‘Dirty’ tricks at LIU: Newspapers vanish after cafeteria expose

A reprinted copy of Long Island University’s student newspaper has hit newsstands after the original run — including an expose on the campus cafeteria — was stolen. (Paul Martinka)

Fighting for freedom of the press can give you a sour stomach at this Brooklyn campus.

Student journalists at Long Island University-Brooklyn are fuming after roughly 1,000 copies of the campus newspaper were recently dumped following a front-page story exposing serious health-code violations at the main campus cafeteria.

Nearly all copies of Seawanhaka Press’ Feb. 22 edition mysteriously vanished from campus bins a day after being distributed, the newspapers’ editors told the Post.

“It’s a form of censorship and a theft because the copies were paid for with student-activity fees,” said Keeley Ibrahim, 26, a senior and the newspaper’s managing editor.

The edition had broken the news that the Blackbird Café was shut down by the city Health Department on Feb. 14 after badly failing an inspection. It also cited students who alleged the café was unsanitary and that they experienced symptoms of “food poisoning” after eating there.

City records show the café scored 51 and 55 violation points, respectively, during visits by health inspectors on Feb. 1 and Feb. 14 – well above the 28 points needed for a failing “C” grade. Among the major violations were roaches and flies in food areas, and workers “personal cleanliness” being “inadequate.”

The café was allowed to reopen Feb. 15 after a follow-up inspection, but was still slapped with a “Grade Pending” sign to post by the Health Department.

Mabel Martinez, Seawanhaka’s editor-in-chief, said the newspaper spends about $1,500 printing 1,000 copies for each weekly edition – money that comes out of student-activity fees included in tuition bills.

It has begun distributing the reprints and on Thursday will print a new edition that includes a scathing editorial ripping “student censorship” and those who stole the newspapers for allegedly disregarding students’ health.

“We’re really mad because we’re here late until one o’clock, two o’clock in the morning working hard to put out this paper, so finding out it was gone was horrible,” said Martinez, a 21-year-old senior.

Eisa Shukran, a district manager for food-services giant ARAMARK, which runs the café and other campus food operations, said the company didn’t request that the newspapers be removed. Asked if he thought café workers might’ve taken them, he said, “it’s hard for me to say.”

Martinez and Ibrahim both said that some LIU janitors recently told the Seawanhaka Press that they were under orders from an unknown source to dump the newspapers.

But LIU-Brooklyn spokesman Brian Harmon the university “has not found any evidence of wrongdoing.”

“We take this very seriously and encourage our students to use their Freedom of the Press rights – even if a story is negative,” he said.

Addressing the poor health grades, Shukran said, “we addressed the issues and were allowed to reopen.”