RHINEBECK — The longtime restaurant owner of Gigi Trattoria in Rhinebeck is suing village and town officials, claiming they worked together and with local police to harass the restaurant over patio furniture and to interfere with the business’ ability to negotiate a new lease with its landlord.
The suit focuses on two primary allegations dating back to the earlier days of the pandemic, when restaurants faced stringent dining restrictions. According to the suit, filed in 2021 by owner Laura Pensiero and GLC Restaurant Associates LLC, the restaurant placed patio furniture outside for customers to use while waiting on takeout orders. It wasn’t meant to be used for people to sit and eat because COVID-19 restrictions at the time prohibited dining at the restaurants, according to the legal complaint. But village police on multiple occasions asked the restaurant to remove the furniture. Soon after the officers visited the restaurant, according to the suit, a code violation was filed with Dutchess County.
The suit names town of Rhinebeck Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia, claiming she played a major role in orchestrating a harassment campaign against Gigi and Pensiero because of “a decade-long animosity” between them.
Over the past few years, Rhinebeck has become a tourist destination in Dutchess County. Resident John Rossi, who has been following this case online from home, said the village has become known for its “large suite of restaurants” relative to its small size. He described Gigi Trattoria as an “institution” that’s been around for decades. Rossi moved from Long Island to Rhinebeck about eight years ago. He served as a member of the village Board of Trustees from 2017 to 2020 before he left his seat to run for mayor.
Though he lost the election, Rossi stays plugged into the goings on around town. He said Gigi Trattoria and its owner, Pensiero, “probably did a lot to help Rhinebeck restaurants, as a place for culinary, get on the map.”
Notably, former President Bill Clinton greeted crowds outside Gigi Trattoria in 2010 after having lunch there while in town for his daughter, Chelsea’s, wedding.
Related: Rhinebeck chosen as “best town with a local food scene” in Hudson Valley’s Best poll
Though Rossi said the Gigi suit hasn’t been talked about much around town, he doesn’t think locals would be surprised by the allegations it contains.
“I think that people know the players and some of the acrimony that takes place in a small town and village like this, but no one knows about this lawsuit,” Rossi said. “I don’t know that they’d be surprised with the elements in the lawsuit.”
Most of the claims — eight out of 10 — were tossed last year by Judge Christie L. D’Alessio, including the restaurant’s charge that the village illegally provided a copy of the code violation to a local newspaper without a freedom of information law request. But the judge allowed arguments to proceed for allegations the officials interfered with the restaurant’s business relationship with its landlord and its “prospective economic advantage” regarding the new lease.
Attorney Daniel Stafford of the Poughkeepsie-based firm McCabe & Mack, who is representing the defendants, reduced the allegations to a “conspiracy theory” in court filings.
In a statement to the Times Union, Stafford wrote the remaining claims have no merit and that no evidence has been provided to show that “quantifiable damages” resulted from “the minimal communications with Gigi’s landlord.”
“Discovery should be complete within the next thirty days, at which point the case will be ripe for summary judgment,” Stafford wrote.
Requests for comment from the attorney representing Pensiero, as well as Pensiero and the restaurant, were not returned on Wednesday.
Published on The Perfect Enemy at https://bit.ly/3ZwQCpH.
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