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Grimaldi's re-opens after tax flap

BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO | anthony.destefano@newsday.com

7:55 PM EDT, July 23, 2008

Grimaldi's, the Brooklyn eatery renowned for its tasty pizza and long lines, was shuttered for several hours yesterday while it tussled over dough, said a state spokesman.

For two years the pizzeria, tucked under the Brooklyn Bridge, has been embroiled in a dispute with officials about unpaid state sales and withholding taxes totaling about $160,000, said Tom Bergin of the Department of Taxation and Finance.

But yesterday "we seized them," closing the business to get the liens satisfied, he said.

The pizzeria, a mecca for locals and tourists alike, was closed at about noon. A sign on the door said the restaurant was shut due to an electrical problem.

Grimaldi's reopened sometime before 5:20 p.m. with 30 people waiting in line to chow down on its crispy thin pies.

Photographer Kimio Takawama, 64, of Williamsburg, and Japanese high school student Takashi Sudo were among those standing on line. After reading about Grimaldi's in a Japanese guidebook, Sudo wanted to try the pizza. "It's ok," Takawama said about the food.

The reopening signaled that the state had reached a settlement with the restaurant's owner, Bergin said.

A manager at Grimaldi's wouldn't comment on the situation and declined to give out a telephone number for the owner listed as Frank Ciolli in state records.