PORT MORRIS — Restaurant owners called the "first victim of gentrification" in The Bronx after being evicted were deadbeats who still owed more than $70,000 in back rent, according to the landlord and his son.
Calientito, a Dominican and Puerto Rican eatery on Lincoln Avenue, was kicked out on Friday, and the lawyer for the restaurant argued that the landlord had been purposefully trying to push it out so he could sell the building for a profit.
However, landlord Frank Torres and his son Frank Torres Jr. denied the charge, maintaining that the only reason Calientito was evicted was because the co-owners were not paying their rent.
"The whole claim on gentrification and them being evicted because of that is not true in the least," said Torres Jr.
He said that his family has resisted lucrative buyout offers because they believe in the importance of local ownership.
"We have already been approached within the last five years [by] people looking to buy our property. One person offered $26 million. Another person offered $40 million," he continued. "We already told those guys to take a hike."
Although Calientito is in an area of the South Bronx that has seen a surge of interest from developers lately, Torres Jr. was adamant that he had no intention of leaving the neighborhood and planned to take over managing his father's land on Lincoln Avenue.
He also denied claims by Eva Diaz, co-owner of Calientito, that he and his father had been trying to sabotage their business, specifically by turning off their water for three weeks and not fixing a leak in the restaurant that was making it impossible to use one of their tables.
Torres Jr. maintained that they only shut off water in the eatery for a few hours one day because the co-owners were not paying their bills and violating their lease.
He said that he tried to find out where the leak was but ultimately determined it was coming from within the restaurant, meaning the co-owners were responsible as a commercial establishment for fixing it.
"The leak itself was inside of the business," he said, "and since they were commercial, it was not our responsibility to fix anything."
Diaz and her lawyer Damien Carter did not respond to requests for comment.
They had been trying to get a court order letting them back into the restaurant on Friday, but Torres Jr. said he had not received anything from the lawyer.
He plans on speaking to some local business owners about taking over Calientito's space, as he would like to lease out the property again.
"I have no intention of leaving," Torres Jr. said, "because I’m taking over the building."
