Jay-Z’s NYC 40/40 Club Shuts Down for Health Code Violations Day After Reopening

A day after celebrating its reopening, Jay-Z's New York City 40/40 sports bar shut down for health code violations on Friday (January 20).

According to the New York Post, the club was shut down for a slew of health-code violations; an inspector found perishable food at warm temperatures inside the walk-in refrigerator and discovered “hot” food left out on the counter on Thursday (January 19), the day of the star-studded affair, Health Department sources said. A worker was also seen mixing salsa with his bare hands. (Check out a timeline of the 40/40 reopening event here.)

All the hot foods should be at least 140 degrees, sources told the paper. The club’s restaurant was immediately closed once the violations were discovered but was reopened on Saturday (January 21) once the problems were corrected.

Ron Berkowitz, a rep for the club, told TMZ on Saturday (January 21) the motor in one of the refrigerators blew just moments before the health inspector arrived, causing the temperature in the fridge to rise. Berkowtiz says the staff too notice to the issue immediately and had no intention of serving the food from that fridge until it was fixed. Consequently, the refrigerator was fixed by noon the next day and the club reopened.

Still, the 40/40 club received  69 violation points, more than the 28 needed for a worst-possible “C” grade, and they’ll be adjudicated at a hearing next month.—Gina Montana