By RICH CALDER and BEN SIMON
Posted: 3:46 am
July 24, 2008
World-famous Grimaldi's Pizzeria under the Brooklyn Bridge was temporarily shut down by authorities yesterday for owing the state nearly $100,000 in taxes.
State Department of Taxation and Finance officials, accompanied by cops, changed the locks at around noon at the iconic cash-only business on Old Fulton Street. They also posted a "notice" saying Grimaldi's was shut down for failing to pay sales tax and for failing to properly withhold employee taxes.
The brick-oven joint's corporate name, PATABBE Inc., had eight outstanding warrants totaling $99,458 in back taxes owed to the state, said officials. Its owner, Frank Ciolli, also had two outstanding warrants of his own, totaling $65,793 in state taxes he owed, records show.
Ciolli, who bought the eatery famous for its "No Slices" policy from pizza king Patsy Grimaldi 12 years ago, could not be reached for comment. A manager at Grimaldi's, which reopened after 5 p.m., said, "I don't know anything."
