In a surprise move, a judge has ordered Grimaldi's landlord to accept late rent payments and refused to enforce an eviction notice foisted upon the world famous coal-oven pizzeria. "There is a God!" declared owner Frank Ciolli as he left the courtroom today. "We’re staying in Brooklyn. Let’s go have some pizza." But there was quite a different scene outside the courtroom before the judge's ruling—the Brooklyn Paper reports that an ugly shouting match between Ciolli and the landlord got physical.
The landlord's son, Mark Waxman, wants to evict Grimaldi's because Ciolli violated a contract that gave Waxman the right to toss out Ciolli if the rent was late. Waxman had refused to accept Ciolli's late rent payments, but today Judge Robin Shears ordered Waxman to accept over $60,000. But while Grimaldi's is safe for now, Waxman says he and his mother will not renew Ciolli's lease when it expires in November 2011. The location will probably continue to operate as a pizzeria, because its coal-burning oven is one of the few in NYC that are legal, because it existed before a citywide ban.
During a recess, after each side had presented their arguments, Ciolli was reportedly "livid, pointing a finger in Waxman’s face and yelling." According to the Brooklyn Paper, Ciolli got in Waxman's face and yelled, "This is a stab in the back — this is bullshit! You don’t know who you’re dealin’ with. But you’ll find out soon enough. You’re buying yourself a lawsuit." Then Ciolli reportedly ripped a camera out of a reporter's hand as "other reporters gasped at the brazen move." Fortunately for Ciolli, there is a God, and He loves pizza.
