Lemonade kid gets a new squeeze

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday squeezed his own Health Department to settle an embarrassing lemonade stand dispute with a 7-year-old upstate boy.

A state Health Department inspector last Friday shut down the lemonade stand set up on the deck of the Saratoga Springs-area house of secondgrader Brendan Mulvaney, saying he needed to get a $30 permit to operate it.

Two days after the Schnectady Gazette and then the Albany Times Union reported the unusual situation, Cuomo stepped in.

“Today I directed the Department of Health to reach a resolution with the Mulvaney family to ensure that Brendan's Lemonade Stand can continue to operate,” Cuomo said in a statement.

The governor added that “if a permit is needed, I will personally pay for any necessary fees. We support Brendan's entrepreneurial spirit and wish him the best of luck."

The young Mulvaney was turned in to the health department inspector by four vendors at the nearby Saratoga County Fairgrounds, who complained the 75 cents-a-cup lemonade he was selling undercut them. Fairgrounds' fresh-squeezed lemonade sells for about $7 a large cup.

Health Department spokesman Gary Holmes said when the inspector went to the Mulvaney stand, there was only an adult who was selling lemonade, water, soda and snocones.

Holmes said the department spoke with Mulvaney's father, Sean, on Monday and settled the matter after discussing what couldn't be sold without a permit. The father said his son only wants to sell lemonade, which does not require a permit.

Holmes said Mulvaney's dad was told if that changes and Brendan wants to sell other things, the department will help expedite the permit process.

“We apologized again for any inconvenience and we offered our support for him moving forward,” Holmes said.

Sean Mulvaney could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.