In case u missed it, Alefantis emphatically stated for the record yesterday on the Kojo Mnambi radio show that Comet Ping Pong DOES NOT HAVE A BASEMENT.
https://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2016-11-30/pizza-propaganda-the-local-fallout-from-fake-news
Now, this is problematic because it contradicts all the available evidence we currently have. Including James Alefantis hinself talking about canning 10 tons of tomatoes at Comet and storing them in said basement. Which can be found here in this Metro Weekly article.
http://www.metroweekly.com/2015/04/from-scratch-james-alefantis/
In addition to his own words previously confirming the existence of a basement, we also have this book, Boutique Restaurants, which documents the interior of Comet Ping Pong. The only available images are too low of a resolution to make out the description. However, the space depicted is able to be assumed to be a basement area of the building. (Cant find the link to the book right now, i have screenshots on my twitter tho)
Another puzzling piece of information is the listing of Comet, 5037 Connecticut Ave. on propertyshark has the stories of the building listed as '2'.
http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property/11881126/5037-Connecticut-Ave-NW-Washington-DC-20008/
Other supporting evidence is a confirmed basement level in a neighboring business, Politics and Prose. Across the street there is Joe's Basement Bar, so we know buildings in the immediate vicinity have basements.
Fox News biggest argument in favor of "debunking Pizzagate" was the statement of fact that "Comet Ping Pong does not have a basement"
I'll leave it to the greater community to interpret the implications of these findings published above.
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pizzathrowaway ago
It seems possible that the basement where he stores extra sauce is not on site. There is definitely no basement there.
I'm not sure what photo in the restaurant book you think is in a basement? They all look like the front room area, plus one of the kitchen/bar and one of the bathroom. There's one photo that I can't really tell what it is.
Politics & Prose is not in the same building, though it is in the same complex, a few doors down. The whole strip of stores is kind of on a hill, so the ground level exit from Comet out back is on the same level as the **basement **exit from Politics & Prose, they both exit to the parking lot. See: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Comet+Ping+Pong/@38.9554688,-77.0701022,3a,75y,72.27h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0-tiSgOn-MJLr6hd2YBmyg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0-tiSgOn-MJLr6hd2YBmyg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D67.65328%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b7c9b98f61ad27:0x81a8bf734dd1c58f!8m2!3d38.9559497!4d-77.0699666!6m1!1e1
quantokitty ago
It's just amazing that when Alefantis says that they store the tomatoes in the basement, someone pops up disagrees with that. HTH do you know? And the OP is right about the real estate listing. I've gone on four different sites and plunked in that address. The number of stories is: TWO. So perhaps the basement is hidden from you. You know, like the bathrooms are hidden behind secret panels.
SIMONBARROW ago
The statement Alefantis made first about the basement is going to be the more reliable statement, because it was made before he knew that it would matter one day whether or not Comet had a basement. The alternative is to assume that Alefantis is a compulsive liar who wanted to impress by saying that they make their own sauce once a year and store it for use all year round. A lie now (to cover up Pizzagate) seems much more likely than a lie then (to impress a food reviewer).
quantokitty ago
Absoutely.
Even if he was going to say he made his own sauce, to concoct a story about a basement when they didn't have one would make no sense. I mean, was there the slightest chance the reviewer would follow up a simple statement like, "We make our own sauce," with "You do? Well, where do you do that? Do you have a basement to store things because I don't see one and don't understand where the tomatoes could be kept so if you don't have underground storage I'm going to call you out for being a liar and making things up"? No, there wasn't. It was a light-hearted, superficial article designed to promo Alefantis and his great new pleasure pizza palace.
The previous statement is the important one.
riggington ago
If there was no other evidence, I'd say lying to impress a food reviewer is better explanation than having all this shit going on.
NotAnIdiot ago
That's the thing...
riggington ago
I know, right?
SIMONBARROW ago
Well, I've checked it out thoroughly now. The tinned tomatoes are stored in the basement at Buck's. Since that's only two doors away from Comet, the statement that Comet doesn't have a basement is true in the strict sense but actually misleading.
riggington ago
You should probably post your findings with sources somewhere. Also, they storing tomatoes somewhere else does not mean they don't have a basement. And they could have easily just filled it with concrete after this started spreading. They got money and power.
SIMONBARROW ago
Sources are all there.