In case you missed it, a heated back-and-forth erupted in the comments section of our post about the ugly and unfortunate closing of Isabella’s Oven. Commenters familiar with the inner workings of the Seward Park Housing Corporation’s board countered owner Teresa Rizzo-Marino’s claims that the board ejected her partly because she was Italian: “The Board consists of 11 members. Four women and 7 men. Of that there are 2 Italians, 1 Hungarian, 1 Puerto Rican, 3 Irish, 1 Asian and 3 Jews. Her mother has served as 1st VP and 2nd VP.” Another commenter challenged Rizzo-Marino’s assertion that she wasn’t given a chance to negotiate, and that the board just wanted to hijack her business.
The board even tried to work out a deal with you to forgive the 70k that you agreed you owed if you would just vacate the premises and leave it as-is so that the corporation would at least be able to rent it to another restaurant (nobody wanted your pizza recipe, which was adequate at best) but you wouldn't take the deal. Instead, you and your goon family destroyed the premises over the weekend with sledgehammers before you vacated
Finally, a point about the place’s modus operandi: “You never opened for lunch, you were closed on Mondays, you never sold pizza by the slice with 1,000 high-school students 200 feet from your door. Where did you learn how to run a business.” For Rizzo-Marino’s responses, read the comments.
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Filed Under: Beef, isabella's oven, lower east side, Seward Park Housing Corporation, Teresa Rizzo-Marino
