De Blasio Blasted After Selfishly Trying To Save Favorite Pizza Place from Crushing NY Taxes
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio’s response to a pizza parlor closing in his city is sparking a major outcry against him.
The pizzeria, Di Fara Pizza, is an icon in its native Brooklyn. But thanks to a heavy tax burden that racked up back taxes for the eatery, the restaurant was seized by the state of New York on Tuesday and shut down.
According to the New York Daily News, Di Fara’s tax debt is over $167,000.
De Blasio was quick to respond in an attempt to save “THE best pizza place in New York City.”
Di Fara is THE best pizza place in New York City. It MUST be saved. I’m ready to do anything I can to get them reopened — as are thousands of New York City pizza-lovers.
My team and I are looking into how we can help resolve this situation. https://t.co/oL1jKxpgh5
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) August 21, 2019
De Blasio has made tax reform a major part of his presidential platform — but his proposals involve increasing taxes, not cutting them.
Without supporting major tax cuts that give small businesses a competitive edge, De Blasio’s apparent grief over his favorite restaurant closing is pure hypocrisy. The story of Di Fara Pizza is one that’s too common for many small business owners drowning in taxes.
New York’s tax scheme for small businesses is complicated and takes a large chunk of income away. Paired with sky-high real estate costs, this makes New York City a difficult place for any business to thrive.
Twitter users, especially those from New York City, didn’t waste any time piling on the trailing presidential candidate.
Many people expressed their anger at De Blasio for focusing on a pizza joint instead of the state of his city.
can you fix the subway first
— Taylor Trudon (@taylortrudon) August 21, 2019
Wow the Mayor of NYC puts so much passion into pizza, but Police Officers being attacked and innocent folks being killed by gun crime, barely a word from the NYC Mayor.
— Sandra P. Cole (@Sandra_Cole44) August 21, 2019
Possibly your worst tweet yet
— Arthur Tarley (@arthurtarley) August 21, 2019
Although many disagree with De Blasio’s handling of the situation, the pizza parlor still has many dedicated customers. One fan of Di Fara’s was adamant that the restaurant is “THE BEST PIZZERIA IN THE WORLD.”
Slices from Di Fara cost a whopping $5.00 because of the high-quality ingredients imported from Italy. This hasn’t discouraged patrons who regularly line up around the block for the pizza.
Margaret Mieles, part of the family that owns Di Fara, says the closure will be especially hard for her parents.
“My parents have nothing,” she said. “Believe me when I tell you, we’re the simplest family that works hard and loves what we do. We just became popular for what we do.”
Though the iconic Brooklyn Di Fara location remains shuttered despite De Blasio’s tweet, a second location in another part of the city remains open.
De Blasio’s reaction is quickly becoming the butt of the joke for many New Yorkers, but serious supporters of the pizza joint are ready to start lining up for the famous $5 slices again.
Thanks to the crushing New York back taxes on the restaurant, however, this may not be in the cards for fans of Di Fara.
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