Antonette’s East Hills seized for not paying taxes

Teri West
Antonette's East Hills, an Italian restaurant that also hosts musical acts, was seized for tax nonpayment. (Photo by Melissa Spitalnick)

The state seized Antonette’s East Hills, a restaurant on Glen Cove Road, for not paying taxes.

The New York state Department of Taxation and Finance seized the restaurant on Oct. 4, said James Gazzale, a department spokesman.

Antonette’s has 17 open warrants with a total balance of $182,034.38, he said. The liability period for those warrants was between 2014 and 2018, Gazzale said.

Efforts to reach the restaurant’s owner, James Antoniotti, were unavailing.

“In general, after we seize a business we continue to communicate with the business owner to find a mutually beneficial way forward in hopes of reopening the biz as soon as possible,” Gazzale said.

Antonette’s hosts musical performances, and many groups were scheduled to perform this month, including Sweetwater, a Long Island band scheduled for Oct. 26. Sweetwater bandleader Tony Polito said the restaurant never informed him about the closure but he heard rumors from customers and other performers.

“I called a couple of times,” Polito said. “I got an answering machine that said ‘Antonette’s’ and then the rest of the times the phone just rang and rang.”

“[Antoniotti] was always a very nice man, everybody liked him,” Polito said. “I liked him too. I wish him well even though it’s a little bit of a hardship … I’ll never book that date again … it’s too close.”

Keith Ruzika was planning on performing at Antonette’s this week and had not been informed of the restaurant’s closing.

“I appreciate the information because I actually turned down a gig at another place to play there, and I guess it’s not going to happen,” he said.

A sign on the building noting the seizure has since been removed.

Share this Article