By Selwyn Duke

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (shown) had been accused of stealing tips from a coworker at a bar where she once waitressed. Yet she also could perhaps be accused of helping steal the jobs, in a manner of speaking, from workers at its sister establishment, in which she also waitressed. This is because iconic New York City restaurant The Coffee Shop closed its doors forever — largely because of its state’s new $15 minimum wage — which Ocasio-Cortez supported.

The Coffee Shop was no failed business model. It was “frequented by A-list celebrities and featured on ‘Sex and the City,’” wrote Investor’s Business Daily. Opened by former Wilhelmina models Charles Milite, Eric Petterson, and Carolyn Benitez in 1990, “it quickly became a sceney fashion destination,” added Eater New York last year. “There was even a long-standing rumor that the restaurant only hired aspiring models as servers” (though Ocasio-Cortez’ employment apparently debunks this rumor).

What isn’t a rumor is that the minimum wage minimized the restaurant’s viability. “The times have changed in our industry,” owner Milite told the New York Post. “The rents are very high and now the minimum wage is going up and we have a huge number of employees.”

Read the rest here.