New York's state Department of Health has apologized to a 7-year-old while investigating why a woman who appeared to be one of its inspectors shut down his lemonade stand.
Brendan Mulvaney tells the Times Union that he was "really mad" on Friday when a woman wearing a green health department shirt told his parents he couldn't sell 75-cent lemonade without a permit.
Spokeswoman Jill Montag says the department does not inspect children's lemonade stands.
The family's home in Ballston Spa is near the Saratoga County Fairgrounds.
The county fair was winding down by the time the apology arrived. But Brendan is reopening during the fairgrounds' garage sale on Aug. 18.
NY State Senator Jim Tedisco (R) visited Brendan Mulvaney and vowed to fight state bureaucrats to keep all child-run residential lemonade stands open.
“There’s nothing that says America more than apple pie and kids running lemonade stands. What has our state government come to? When I was a kid, state bureaucrats didn’t go around shutting down lemonade stands and threatening children and families with fines. These kids are trying to give people sweet lemonade and learn some important business skills but the overzealous state bureaucrats in the administration just keep giving taxpayers lemons,” said Tedisco.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.