New
Haven Pizza Co. Closes Its Doors, Cites Upstate Economy
by
Timothy W. Scee II
Special to Newzjunky.com
Published February 21, 2012
WATERTOWN, N.Y.
— A 7-month-old pizzeria has shut off its ovens and closed its doors as the owners are blaming a poor economy on the business’ failure.
New Haven Pizza Co., 1222 Arsenal St., owned by brothers William J. and Jason M. Gittings, permanently closed Saturday according to its website.
“Due to the economy in upstate New York we simply cannot afford to continue doing business,” the website’s main page reads. “We do appreciate having had the opportunity to serve you and we wish you the best.”
The Gittings brothers, originally from Connecticut, prided the originality of their New Haven-style pizzas that featured a thin crust and were baked in a wood-fired brick oven.
The restaurant, besides its customers, leaves behind a controversial five-year, $29,000 loan that was to be paid back at 5 percent interest to the Watertown Local Development Corp.
Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham, who sits on the agency’s Board of Directors, said he initially disagreed with the decision to grant New Haven Pizza Co. the loan because the business’ nature would make it too risky.
“There was considerable disagreement at the time about (the loan) because restaurants are a competitive business and so is pizza, so should you really get involved in it,” Mr. Graham said Monday.
Despite his concerns, the loan was approved by the WLDC in September 2011.
Mr. Graham said the restaurant’s repayment of the loan may be “easier said than done.”
“If you’re unable to collect from the individuals then you end up writing it off as a bad debt expense,” he said. “It’s part of the cost of lending money, you get paid once and a while but in that case the first payment was never made.”
Neither the Gittings brothers nor Donald W. Rutherford, WLDC’s chief executive officer, could be reached for comment Monday.
