Di Fara Back In Business After State Seized It: Report

MIDWOOD, BROOKLYN — Di Fara is back in business days after state officials shut the famous pizzeria over $167,000 in unpaid taxes, according to reports.

Owners of Di Fara Pizza on Avenue J and East 15th Street told the New York Post they'll be warming up the ovens Thursday after working out a payment plan to address their $167,506.75 debt.

“We’re looking forward to getting everything started,” Margaret DeMarco-Mieles told the Post. "We’re really excited.”

News broke just hours after a group of Billionaire's Row residents told Mayor de Blasio they'd pay the outstanding tax if he'd reconsider building a homeless shelter in their Central Park South neighborhood.

News that one of the city's most iconic pizzerias had apparently rattled the mayor, who took to Twitter to promise he'd do "anything" to save Di Fara.

This is not the first time the famous Midwood pizzeria has faced off against New York officials.
Di Fara was repeatedly shuttered by city Health Department inspectors in May and in 2018 for health violations that included mice, food held at unsafe temperatures and workers with inadequate personal cleanliness.

The pizzeria has been a New York City institution since Domenico "Dom" DeMarco opened the pizzeria in 1965. Di Fara was named an All Star Eatery by Forbes in 2018 and has been named one the city's best pizzerias by CNN, the New York Post, Food & Wine, among others.