Bella Vita goes dark, tenants pull up stakes for Garden City

BY CHARITY ROBEY and AMBROSE CLANCY

Bella Vita, the pizzeria on North Ferry Road in the Center, closed because the tenants didn’t renew their lease.

That’s one of the few facts the landlord and tenant agreed on in interviews this week with the Reporter.

The tenant, John Riccobono, began negotiations, he said, with the landlord, Dan Calabro, to renew the lease for the space where they have been operating Bella Vita for the past five years. But the parties could not agree on new terms.

Mr. Riccobono’s brother, Anthony, had signed a five-year lease with Mr. Calabro that runs through the end of 2015, Mr. Riccobono said. The tenants agreed to pay $7,000 a month, plus they, and not Mr. Calabro, were responsible for utilities, repairs and some capital improvements.

Those extras have totaled, according to Mr. Riccobono, $26,500 over the last five years, including installing an air-conditioning system, an ice machine, electrical improvements and a replacing a cesspool.

Two years ago, Mr. Riccobono bought out his brother and turned over the management of the pizzeria to his son, John. Jr.

When it became clear that renegotiating the lease on more favorable terms for his family was not in the cards, Mr. Riccobono found another space in Garden City, recently signing a 10-year lease at $2,500 a month.

But Mr. Calabro said that “pretty much  everything” Mr. Riccobono claimed “is wrong.”

He couldn’t speak about specific details of the agreement he had with the Riccobonos because “it would be illegal, libelous for me to get into the details” and “personal information” in the lease.

The agreement, Mr. Calabro said, was what’s known as a “triple net lease,” which states that the tenant is obligated to cover all costs, including real estate taxes, insurance and maintenance.

“It’s a standard commercial lease,” Mr. Calabro said. “It’s all I give.”

The landlord also said the Riccobono family had already rented the space in Garden City before the lease on the Island was up.

“It seemed like a good move for him,” Mr. Calabro said. “I wished him well.”

He noted that he had interviewed several potential tenants interested in taking over the abandoned spot to replace Bella Vita.

“It will be a pizzeria/restaurant again,” Mr. Calabro said. “It’s definitely happening.”

Mr. Riccobono became emotional speaking about Bella Vita’s residency on North Ferry Road.

“The whole Riccobono family is sorry that we had to leave the Island,” he said. “It’s with a heavy heart that we had to leave. We felt like part of the family.”

Mr. Calabro noted that many people failed to realize that he had helped to bring many businesses here over the  years.

“I’m trying to do the best for Shelter Island,” he said.