Joe Russo’s road to reopening
After a protracted struggle, one fire-ravaged Merrick Road stalwart is poised for a return
No one in Baldwin will forget the fire on May 3, 2010, that savaged several small businesses and apartments on Merrick Road, but the owners and tenants are, for the most part, trying to move on and rebuild. Chief among them is restaurateur Joe Russo, 57, owner of the New Old Venice Inn, one of Baldwin’s oldest businesses.
A family favorite for generations, NOVI, as it’s known, had been serving the Baldwin community since 1937 until the fire. When it reopens — hopefully in the next few months, says Russo, who has owned the restaurant for the past four years — residents should expect a name change in addition to a few other updates.
“It was called the Venice Inn when I bought it,” Russo told the Herald. “I wanted to fix it up and make it more contemporary, so I called it the New Old Venice Inn. I did want to retain the name.” After the reopening, however, Russo says the business will officially go by the name customers have long used anyway, NOVI. But before any name change can be made official, Russo and his contractor, Baldwin’s own Al Sardilli, will have to finish a restoration that has been long and fraught with challenges.
When asked to characterize the rebuilding process, Russo chose the word “frustrating,” and went on to detail the extent of the project. “It took several months before the insurance company even released any money,” he recalled. “Even though they knew the whole thing was totaled. There was so much water damage, we had to begin the rebuilding process with four walls and a floor. There were times in the winter when we had to shovel the snow out of the second floor because the roof had been removed.”
Still upbeat through all his travails, Russo now estimates that the project will be finished within a month. “We’re hoping to reopen at the end of the month in September,” he said. “We still need a couple of more inspections by the fire marshal and the town Building Department because of the many, many code upgrades, but we’re almost ready to go. This has been an enormous investment for me.”
Asked about the surrounding businesses, Russo said he is optimistic. “There were three other stores that were destroyed by [the] fire,” he said. “All three are in the process of trying to rebuild.”
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