Arbitrator Rules Against Former Mayor Young
Developer Awarded $2.6 Million for Failed Supermarket in Fleetwood
‘City Did Not Do Any of the Tasks That It Was Supposed to Do’
In a stinging rebuke of actions taken by former Mayor Clinton Young, an arbitrator has ordered the City of Mount Vernon to pay Salvatore Gizzo $2.6 million in connection with the bankruptcy of his failed supermarket development in Fleetwood.
In 2009, former Mayor Young and members of the City Council encouraged Gizzo to abandon his steakhouse at 42 West Broad Street and convert it to a supermarket. Promises were made, but not kept.
The supermarket opened in 2010 but filed bankruptcy a year later. In 2016, Judge Linda Jamieson squarely placed the blame on former Mayor Young ruling the assertion “that the City did not do any of the tasks that it was supposed to do” was “without contradiction.”
On Friday, the arbitrator, former Supreme Court Justice Betty Weinberg Ellerin placed the damages for city’s “breach and non-performance of its contractual obligations” at $2.6 million.
“Actions have consequences and in this case, the failure of former Mayor Young and the City Council to live up to their commitments sent a local business into bankruptcy and will now cost residents millions of dollars,” said Mayor Richard Thomas. “The story is one of municipal malpractice and a past that cannot be allowed to be repeated.”
The city is reviewing its options as to whether the judgment is appealable. Payments in these types of cases are typically financed by issuing long-term bonds. Despite the size of the judgment, Mayor Thomas credited the city’s law team for avoiding a jury award that might have been higher. The arbitrator gave Gizzo about $1.2 million less than he had been seeking.
Mayor Thomas said the one silver lining in the case is that the ill-fated supermarket is now the site of a $90 million, 16-story, transit-oriented development with 249 market-rate apartments, which are a short walk to the Fleetwood train station, and 20,000 sq. ft. of retail.
“On this project, we are paying close attention to the details and communicating with all the stakeholders involved — neighbors, merchants, developers and all interested residents,” Mayor Thomas said. “My administration is working hard to bring in new revenues to keep Mount Vernon affordable. This is how we offset the cost of this inherited judgment on the wallets of our residents.”
