The View Grill’s future uncertain, no decision made by Glen Cove government before election

For three months, North Shore residents have been waiting for Glen Cove’s decision on its recent request for proposal that will determine the fate of The View Grill, on Lattingtown Road. Now they will have to until after the Nov. 7 election for the results.
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, frustrated residents asked Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck about the delay. “When I spoke a couple of council meetings ago, I asked, when will the decision be made?” Peter Budraitis said. “You said probably before Election Day.”
Panzenbeck said she had hoped it wouldn’t work out this way, and Budraitis asked for clarification, given that this was the last meeting before Election Day. Panzenbeck added that the decision was a “process.”
Asked if the decision would be made after the election, Panzenbeck said, “I would think so.” When Budraitis asked for either a yes or no, Panzenbeck said that it would “most likely not happen.” Pressed further by Budraitis on whether her answer was no, Panzenbeck answered, “No.”
She added that the final scoring by the committee that is evaluating the bids is expected around Nov. 3. At that point, the committee will submit its recommendations to the City Council, which will vote to award the contract for the city-owned property to one of two proposers, Jeanine and Fred DiMenna, of The View Grill, and Kent Monkan, owner of KVM Food Corp.

The city’s request for proposal called for extensive capital improvements to the property, which is currently leased by Jeanine DiMenna. Monkan, who owns two restaurants on the North Shore — the Brass Rail, in Locust Valley, and the Heirloom Tavern, in Glen Head — submitted the only other proposal.
Since late September, submissions have been reviewed by a committee that includes Louis Fugazy Jr., Scott Grupp, Pat Hall, Cherise Kramer, Vincent Hartley, Cynthia Ayres and Lisa Travatello. Meetings between the proposers and the committee have been facilitated by Yelena Quiles. The committee was originally scheduled to submit its suggestions to the City Council by early this month.
Gracie Cipriano, one of DiMenna’s many supporters, reminded council members that if she doesn’t get the council’s vote, her employees must plan to find new jobs. Cipriano added that The View Grill, whose lease expires in February, is unable to book events for 2024 until a decision is made.
Since the community first learned about the RFP, many of DiMenna’s supporters have signed petitions and held protests before council meetings, hoping to sway committee members and the council. Those hoping that Monkan will take over the lease have not been as outspoken as those rooting for DiMenna, but at Tuesday’s meeting, Maureen Pappachristou expressed concerns about DiMenna remaining at The View.
“The city can’t just do a nice thing for Jeanine because she is part of the city,” Pappachristou said. “Elected officials doing favors for people will get them in trouble.”
As stated in The View Grill’s lease, 5 percent of its gross revenues beyond $600,000 are turned over to the city as added rent, and any gaps in payment were due after 45 days after its yearly lease ended. Pappachristou asked if the restaurant was up to date on its payments, after the restaurant missed payments in 2018 and 2019.
City controller Michael Piccirillo stated that the RFP process revealed that DiMenna had underreported her revenue, and owed the city $25,000 in rent.
In a phone interview with the Herald after the meeting, DiMenna said that her accountant, Nester Chopin, brought the matter to her attention just after the RFP proposals were due, and she urged him to report his findings to the city.
Chopin told the Herald that the underreported revenue was the result of misreporting by Clover Point of Sales, which the restaurant uses to gauge its profits.
“If they tell us how much we owe them, we’re going to pay them,” Fred DiMenna said. “It was an error on our part.”
DiMenna added that he regretted not being more vigilant about Chopin’s bookkeeping, explaining that Chopin was consulted only because he worked for the restaurant that previously operated at the Lattingtown Road site.
The DiMennas said they were seeking legal counsel to address Chopin’s alleged negligence over the past two years. They believe the committee has delayed its decision because of its diligence in assessing the proposals.
“We like what the city has done for us — that’s why we want to stay,” Fred DiMenna said. “If we felt they were unfair, we were going to get the hell out of there. We liked what they’ve done for us.”