Kosher Dunkin Donuts?

This is weird:

When is a restaurant that serves bacon considered kosher? To most Orthodox rabbis, the answer is easy: never. But Staten Island rabbi Dov Hazdan has been granting his own kosher certification to city Dunkin’ Donuts franchises that have served bacon, ham, and sausage, the trayf trifecta. “The meats all come prepackaged,” says Hazdan. “The employees have to wear gloves. I do not condone mixing kosher with nonkosher.” In Manhattan, Hazdan has also given his ner tamid K stamp to Pongal Vegetarian, an Indian restaurant that operates during the Jewish Sabbath, another no-no among the pork police. Hazdan was recently fired as the kosher supervisor at a Dunkin’ franchise on 34th Street after it received complaints from the Yeshiva University community about the rabbi and the pork. Spokesmen for the four top kosher-certifying agencies said they would never approve a restaurant that served nonkosher meats or operated on the Sabbath. “Who knows what goes on behind the counter?” says one Staten Island rabbi of Hazdan-approved shops. Hazdan insists his methods are 100 percent kosher. “I know a lot of people with beards who go into my stores,” he says.

Especially with completely kosher Dunkin Donuts around, one has to wonder why ones that serve bacon would be under any kosher certification at all. I would have to imagine that at the very least, it might cause those who are relying on the certification to become confused and possibly err on the side of eating non-kosher.

You also have to wonder how Yeshiva University managed to get Dunkin Donuts to pull Hazdan's certification. Did they threaten to boycott? That would seem to be pretty toothless since in saying Hazdan's certification was unreliable, they were de facto boycotting the store anyhow. The article doesn't mention whether the Dunkin Donuts on 34th St. is now under new, more reliable supervision. If not, I can't imagine how Yeshiva University convinced them to drop it at all.

I wonder who YU is going to "boycott" next? Ben's Kosher Deli? Was YU behind the closing of the 2nd Ave. Deli? Inquiring minds want to know.