Metro

Grimaldi’s files $6M lawsuit against landlords

Brooklyn tourist hotspot Grimaldi’s pizzeria has filed a $6 million lawsuit against its landlords for stopping the whole-pies-only joint from taking their trademark coal-fired brick oven with them when they moved down the block – and then, adding insult to injury, throwing the oven away, court papers state.

The landlords revoked the lease for the Grimaldi’s Fulton Landing location near the Brooklyn Bridge overpass in 2010, the court papers state.

“Grimaldi’s was entitled to remove the brick oven upon vacating the 19 Old Fulton [St.] location,” the lawsuit states.

“[Landlord] Waxman wrongfully prevented Grimaldi’s from removing the brick oven from the premises … [and] after obtaining possession of the premises, wrongfully removed and discarded the brick oven from the premises.”

The current owner of Grimaldi’s, Frank Ciolli, bought the business and its famous name in 1998.

After Ciolli moved the shop to a bigger corner space in 2010 following a rent dispute, coal-oven legend Patsy Grimaldi – who sold him the business — came out of retirement and reopened a pizzeria at the 19 Old Fulton location. He named it Juliana’s after his daughter.

A manager at Juliana’s declined to comment for this story.

The “could not be reached for comment” for the landlord should be replaced with the below:

Dr. Mark Waxman, whose elderly mother is the building’s landlord, said Ciolli already sued once over this issue but a judge ruled the oven was an inherent part of the building and ruled that he couldn’t remove it.