It’s going to take a lot of osso buco to get him out of this hole.
The taxman put a padlock yesterday on Nello, gossip-page gadfly Nello Balan’s signature Upper East Side restaurant, because he failed to pay more than $1.8 million in state taxes, officials said.
The state Department of Taxation and Finance changed the locks and slapped a bright-orange “SEIZED” order on the front door of the scandalously overpriced celebrity haunt on Madison Avenue near East 63rd Street.
Tax officials said Balan’s company, 999 Restaurant Corp., was groaning under four warrants filed since July, seeking back taxes.
The first two – filed on July 15 – sought $10,347 in withholding taxes and $1,532,173 in sales tax. Two more warrants were later filed – one for $143,907 on Sept. 3, and another for $151,560 on Oct. 8, said Tom Bergin, spokesman for the agency.
“Seizure is usually an action of last resort . . . when we have attempted every way to resolve the situation and the taxpayer is unresponsive,” he said.
This isn’t the first time the taxman has gone after Balan, who has been in the news before, for beating a girlfriend and for suing a model who took his umbrella.
According to public records, Balan has been hit with numerous liens – both state and federal – dating back to the late 1990s. But Bergin said all those involving the state have always been resolved. A spokesman for the IRS declined to comment.
If Balan cannot come up with the cash soon, it’s likely he’ll lose his meal ticket. “If we can’t reach an agreement with the taxpayer, we may begin proceedings to liquidate the property,” Bergin said.
Balan initially dismissed the seizure, saying he was closed due to a gas leak. Later, he said, “It was a misunderstanding and now it’s business as usual,” adding, “I paid what I had to pay.”
The eatery, where a veal chop costs $60 and a bowl of lobster bisque, $40, reopened for the dinner rush.
News of the closure caught even Balan’s spokeswoman, Norah Lawlor, off guard. Informed of what had happened, she blurted out: “Holy s- – -!”
“I just spoke to him an hour ago.” she added. “He didn’t mention anything of it.”
Wally Borrery, a maintenance worker in the building next to the restaurant, said, “With the kind of money this place makes and with all the celebrities that come here – hey, you got to pay your taxes.”
Additional reporting by Sylvia Harvey, Braden Keil and Lawrence Schwartzwald