Mandy's Pizza in Observatory Hill closing due to crime (sale, condos)

[Goinback2011]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

He has left town, you won't be hearing any more from him personally.


Maybe if someone moves into the Mandy's space, the successor business will keep their mouths shut about the crime problem up there.

There's a lot of pretense about crime problems in the city neighborhoods.

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by Sciulli

Interesting addition to the story...

Joe Negri, the owner of Mandy's, also owns two residential properties in Observatory Hill. He hasn't paid city or country real estate taxes on the homes AND on the property at Mandy's for at least 4 years. He's around $25,000 tax delinquent.

The man's name is Steve Negri, not Joe Negri.

[PghYinzer]

Well the Trib got a hold of the story...

Fed up, owner of Observatory Hill pizza shop closes its doors | TribLIVE

Well Steve Negri hasn't paid taxes on the Mandy's Pizza property in years either.....

Real Estate | Tax Info | Allegheny County

Imagine if everyone paid their taxes...Pittsburgh could hire more cops...

[Sciulli]

Originally Posted by norcider

May I ask where you read this?

PGHYinzer just posted a link, but someone posted about it on the Nextdoor Observatory Hill group.

I don't want to jump to conclusions without knowing all the facts and exactly why he hasn't been paying taxes, but this looks really bad for him when his main complaint is lack of police presence and he doesn't pay property taxes.

Originally Posted by doo dah

The man's name is Steve Negri, not Joe Negri.

yep... sorry.

[norcider]

Originally Posted by Sciulli

PGHYinzer just posted a link, but someone posted about it on the Nextdoor Observatory Hill group.

I don't want to jump to conclusions without knowing all the facts and exactly why he hasn't been paying taxes, but this looks really bad for him when his main complaint is lack of police presence and he doesn't pay property taxes.



yep... sorry.

Thanks, since found this PDF, run a ctrl F on Negri. Not that he owes a ton but he does owe thousands in back taxes.

http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/finance...ing_9-2-15.pdf

Edit, I don't know what to think after seeing this. Was he trying to get out of that property, was his business not doing so well, did he really try to work with the city? Seems like sour grapes to me at this point, and after reading the comments on the OH FB page, sounds like he wasn't a very likable person. Regardless, his crusade against the administration, cops, and OH is certainly tainted in my eyes, it is no longer, "woe is me the big bad black people have run me out of business!".

[MountainDewGuy]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

The hockey tournaments are his parenting duty, not a recreational pursuit.



In any event, the gentleman has left the building already, but the community is still there enduring a lot crime, and Mr. Aklin and the rest of Mr. Peduto's staff is still in charge on Grant St.


Even though the owner of Mandy's is no longer in business, that doesn't mean the citizens of the area don't need to have the neighborhood cleaned up, so it isn't too late for City Hall to act even if this pizza shop guy is no longer in town.

I'm not defending Peduto or the City, but it seems strange that the man has time to go away for his son's hockey tournaments, but doesn't have the time to have a phone call with the City. I know that he feels slighted, but it does sound like he had a chance to discuss the issue in an official capacity, and bulked at the opportunity.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

This struck me as well, and I also agree 100% with the point made by norcider and others -- this is one of those areas that is safe, but also requires some commonsense precautions if a business is going to be open in the evening hours. I really hope this thread doesn't push people away from relocating to Observatory Hill and Perrysville in general, because it's a great neighborhood, and the only way it's going to get better is if more people come and start investing in it.

I'm sorry to say this, but I disagree.

Observatory Hill has a lot of great old houses which are still in fine condition. But if it's at the point where stores are robbed, not after closing, but during operational hours at gunpoint - if it's at the point where Norcider says that after dark they need to operate with locked doors and a service window - it's not safe.

Again, Spak Brothers is in Garfield, which has historically had a worse reputation than Observatory Hill. While they've had break ins at night recently (all by the same guy, they have him on camera) they haven't had any daytime robberies at gunpoint. Other restaurants, like Pho Minh and People's Indian, have been operating for even longer (I think both were already here when I moved to Pittsburgh 10-11 years ago) and crime hasn't caused them to go under.

The Mandy's owner sounds like a bit of a nut, but neighborhoods which have bad enough safety issues that it becomes dicey for them to be open in the evening are typically not neighborhoods on the rise. I hope for the OP's sake their house continues to maintain its value. But the outer North Side is under tremendous pressure right now. Lower-income units are being lost in Central North Side, Deutchtown, and Manchester due to gentrification, and blight is still causing the loss of units elsewhere, particularly in Perry Hilltop. The problem will likely get worse in the next decade, as the Housing Authority is planning on redeveloping both Allegheny Dwellings and Northview Heights into "mixed-income" communities, which will almost certainly mean the displacement of some residents into the surrounding communities. Given all of that, it's going to be hard to imagine all of the outer North Side neighborhoods to continue to improve or tread water. One or more is going to decline, the same way that the Southern Hilltop and portions of the West End have.

[JayDiFiore]

Investing in the neighborhood should become easier from a financial standpoint, since it seems like home values are going down in that area. This house was listed at 200K when I was selling my OH home over a year ago, and I think they'll be lucky to get out for over $155K (and it's a really nice home in a relatively quiet and desirable section of OH proper).

I moved my family out because of a rash of vandalism and similar nuisance crime perpetrated by a group of kids that were probably between 13 and 16 years old. Those kids don't grow up, go to college, and move away. It's going to get a heck of a lot worse before it gets better.

FWIW, when we were forced to occasionally call the police to report gunfire, domestic violence in the street, aforementioned kids throwing fireworks at cars on Perrysville Avenue, they were usually fairly quick to respond and extremely professional in handling what was happening (although in the fireworks anecdote, the kids were back out doing it again five minutes after the patrol cars drove away).

I think the neighborhood still has a lot going for it, and I know the OHI board is trying its best. I think it can be a really nice fit for folks looking for a certain lifestyle, but I cannot imagine raising a family there anymore.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by JayDiFiore

I moved my family out because of a rash of vandalism and similar nuisance crime perpetrated by a group of kids that were probably between 13 and 16 years old. Those kids don't grow up, go to college, and move away. It's going to get a heck of a lot worse before it gets better.

...

I think the neighborhood still has a lot going for it, and I know the OHI board is trying its best. I think it can be a really nice fit for folks looking for a certain lifestyle, but I cannot imagine raising a family there anymore.

Thank you; it's really sobering but important to read this. Most of my sense of the area comes from the playground in Riverview park and meeting OH parents who seem to be happy. But of course you don't hear the whole story on a playground, either. Can I ask what neighborhood you chose after leaving? I'm curious to know if you stayed in the city, and what area would attract a family after these bad experiences.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

I'm not defending Peduto or the City, but it seems strange that the man has time to go away for his son's hockey tournaments, but doesn't have the time to have a phone call with the City. I know that he feels slighted, but it does sound like he had a chance to discuss the issue in an official capacity, and bulked at the opportunity.

Mr. Negri apparently puts a high priority on his parenting duties. Besides he really didn't need to "talk with" city officials, he just needed them to clean up the area. A quick note from the city that they are on the case, and subsequent actual actions is all that is needed. Not a long meeting or phone call promising action or giving excuses.

Negri may or may not be a "nut", and he might be dead wrong as far as the safety of OH. If someone thinks so, if they have the money and restaurant experience- they should look to make an offer on the property, put their own eatery in the store front and prove the man wrong.