A Manhattan judge has ordered Babbo to turn over surveillance footage that could reveal who slashed the giant union inflatable known as “Scabby the Rat” outside the restaurant during its Oct. 27, 2025 grand reopening. The production order stems from a request by UNITE HERE Local 25 for video, communications, and personnel records connected to the protest, turning up the heat on a months-long labor fight that has trailed the Greenwich Village relaunch.
What the court ordered
Last Tuesday, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge directed Babbo to hand over interior and exterior surveillance tapes along with other materials sought by the union, according to the New York Post. The order covers footage from the night of the reopening, communications about the protest, and a list of employees who were working at the time, court documents show.
Local 25 argues that those records could identify whoever punctured the inflatable and says it turned to the courts only after police searched the restaurant and left without making an arrest.
Protest history at the reopening
Scabby, a twelve-foot inflatable rat often rolled out to spotlight alleged labor abuses, was brought up from the D.C. area for picketing outside Babbo’s Waverly Place location as the restaurant reopened under new ownership. Eater reported that the towering rodent and a small group of demonstrators were stationed on the sidewalk as part of a broader UNITE HERE Local 25 campaign targeting properties tied to Starr Restaurants.
The mix of high-profile reopening, visible pickets, and a suddenly deflated mascot has kept the labor dispute in the news cycle since the fall.
Details from the night
Union organizers say Scabby was left with an eight-inch gash on its right thigh and that a witness reported seeing a man carrying “a little paring knife” walk back into the restaurant before police arrived. The union has pegged the inflatable’s value at roughly $7,000 and says the damage pushed its leaders to seek court intervention to secure the footage, as reported by the New York Post.
Police did search Babbo that night, but according to the reporting, they left without identifying a suspect.
Legal angle
The judge’s order is a civil discovery measure, not a criminal ruling. It compels Babbo to produce evidence that the union says it needs to track down whoever damaged union property. If the surveillance video clearly shows the act or the person involved, that material could be turned over to investigators and folded into any future police or disciplinary action.
For now, though, the ruling mainly strengthens the union’s ability to investigate the incident on its own.
Union response and next steps
UNITE HERE Local 25 has cast the court decision as a necessary move toward accountability and says it plans to review any videos and records once Babbo complies with the order. The union’s public materials have carefully chronicled pickets and legal filings in its campaign against Starr-affiliated restaurants, and Local 25 says it intends to pursue every available avenue to identify whoever cut Scabby.
Representatives for Starr have not publicly detailed what specific records they will hand over beyond acknowledging that they will comply with the court’s directive.
Whether the ordered records produce a clear suspect or simply more mystery, the case marks an unusual moment in which a judge is pulled directly into a street-level labor flare-up. Neighbors, diners, and union organizers are likely to keep one eye on the court docket and another on any follow-up by police as the saga of the slashed rat plays out.
