MET’S TELL KOSHER VENDOR TO KEEP SHABBAT!

Snack Sabbath flap at Citi Field

By KATHIANNE BONIELLO • New York Post

A kosher-food company is suing the Mets, claiming that it has lost a half-million dollars in profits because the team has forbidden its stands to sell snacks at Citi Field on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons.

Kosher Grill does brisk business peddling hot dogs, sausages, knishes, hamburgers, beer and other food from three portable stands around the stadium.

The owner, Kosher Sports Inc., (claims that he) got approval from kosher-certifying authorities to sling wieners on the Sabbath and even customized its stands so it could sell its pastrami hot dogs and other wares on Friday nights and Saturdays, the vendor said.

But the Mets superseded the rabbis and caused a frankfurter fracas, never allowing the vendor to go ahead with the move, Kosher Sports claims in a lawsuit it filed last week against the team in Brooklyn federal court.

The Englewood, NJ-based company signed a 10-year deal with the team when Citi Field opened last year.

It allowed the company to sell food on Friday nights and Saturdays, when many Jews don’t work and observe a day of prayer, the suit claims.

The Mets’ decision cost the vendor more than $500,000 in lost profits last year, Kosher Sports — which is seeking $1 million in damages — claims in its lawsuit.

But the rabbi who monitors Kosher Sports’ compliance with Jewish dietary laws denies giving the company the OK to operate on the Sabbath.

“There’s no way they can be kosher if they operate on Friday nights and Saturdays,” said Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann.

The Mets, owned by the Wilpon family, which is Jewish, said Kosher Sports’ claims are “without merit.”

Kosher Sports owner Jonathan Katz declined to comment.