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Chelsea Grimaldi's Seized By The State Over $122K In Unpaid Taxes
By
Nell Casey
Published Aug 17, 2016
Modified Aug 17, 2016
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Michael Volchok
By
Nell Casey
Published Aug 17, 2016
Modified Aug 17, 2016
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The Chelsea offshoot of legendary (if in name only) pizzeria Grimaldi's has been seized and shuttered by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Notices appeared on the restaurant's 656 Avenue of the Americas storefront yesterday and the restaurant was closed for service last night and remained shuttered as of this morning.
James Gazzale, a spokesperson for the Department, confirmed that the restaurant currently has 10 open warrants for sales, with a warranted balance of $121,909.13 in unpaid sales tax plus penalties. "The typical sales tax that you would pay at this restaurant, they collect that on our behalf, so the money doesn't necessarily belong to them," Gazzale explained. The restaurant then has to turn that money over to the state, which, in this case, didn't happen.
Phone calls to the restaurant went unanswered this morning, but a manager at the DUMBO location confirmed the closure and said the restaurant was working with the Department to correct the issue. "The place was supposed to be busier than it is, it's not a busy store," DUMBO manager Gina Peluso said. "They think Grimaldi's is doing a killer business, so they're trying to work out the issue with the taxes."
The tax man has had beef with Grimaldi's before, seizing the original location in 2008 for unpaid state sales and withholding taxes. The issue was quickly resolved and the pizzeria reopened, so it's possible the Chelsea outlet will be back to slinging pies soon. Recently, buzzy Roberta's in Bushwick also ran into some trouble over taxes, but now that there's a Tisch involved, $480K here and there is a drop in the marinara sauce.
"We in the neighborhood love Grimaldi's," tipster Mike Volchok told Gothamist following the shutter. "Hope to see them back soon."
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