Lento's : Open Letter from the Phantom

To:

Marty Golden, NY State Senator
Vincent Gentile, NY City Council
Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President
Mayor Michael Bloomberg

From:
The Phantom

Re:
Closing of Lento's Restaurant

The closing this week of Lento's restaurant is a major blow to Bay Ridge, to Brooklyn, and to all of New York City.

This restaurant has been a local institution for over seventy years, serving Bay Ridge and environs with good, simple food, served at reasonable prices.

Lento's served the community through the Depression, WW2, the end of the trolley cars, the Korean War, the Sixties, the building of the Verrazano Bridge and the Bay Ridge Towers, through the present.

It is understood that the non-renewal of Lento's lease has something to do with a family disagreement. We won't speak to that, as we don't know the people concerned.

We think that there can and should be an amicable solution that allows Lento's to stay right where it is for another 72 years. The building owner or a new building owner will need a tenant for the store space, and I hardly see how you could find a better tenant than the much beloved Lento's.

Maybe it's too late, but the Phantom says it ain't over.

We invite Bay Ridge's elected representatives to speak with the building owner and to the owners of Lento's Restaurant in order to use their good offices to work something out. There's a win-win solution out there if people will bargain in good faith. Please make it happen.

Regards,

The Phantom