13-Year-Olds Selling Cupcakes Busted By Politician

A politician busted two 13-year-olds for selling cupcakes and other baked goods in a public park. After discovering the sales were not going toward charity, he called the cops on the boys.

According to The Journal News of Westchester County, via MSNBC, the boys – Andrew DeMarchis and Kevin Graff did not have a permit to sell their baked goods, which they were selling for $1 a piece, in Chappaqua Park. On their first day they made $120. Their hope was to save enough money to open a restaurant.

The boys’ parents were upset that the politician turned them in, but, truthfully, they should have known better. All it takes is a quick search on the internet to find out the legal requirements of your city when it comes to selling things. Perhaps this is one of life’s lessons they needed to learn the hard way. By selling their cupcakes for such a low price, they were taking business away from locals who had spent the money to gain their legal permits. It is not cheap to start or maintain a business.

"I am shocked and sad for the boys. It was such a great idea, and they worked hard at it," Laura Graff, Kevin's mother, told The Journal News. "But then some Town Board member decided to get on his high horse and wreck their dreams."

Well, their dreams have not been wrecked – they’ve only been delayed. The boys will need to go through the same hoops as anyone to start up their business.

New Castle Councilman Michael Wolfensohn was the person who turned them in.

Wolfensohn told the paper he had asked the boys if the sale was to raise money for a charity, before calling the police.

"All vendors selling on town property have to have a license, whether it's boys selling baked goods or a hot dog vendor," Wolfensohn said.

"In hindsight" he said he perhaps should have told the boys they needed a license rather than calling the cops. "The police are trained to deal with these sorts of issues," he told The Journal News.

The paper said a permit to sell things in the park costs $150 to $350 for two hours and a $1 million insurance certificate is also required.

Suzanne DeMarchis, Andrew's mother, said the officer was "extremely pleasant."

"He said he was sorry to have to do this, but that he was following up on a report filed over the phone by a Town Board member," she told The Journal News. "Kevin was so upset, he was crying all the whole way home. He was worried if he was going to get arrested or have a criminal record."

It is understandable that the boys and their parents would be upset – but do you really think they would have listened to anyone other than a cop telling them they needed to shut their business down? Do you think Wolfenson went about it the right way?