New York Granite Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, on the heels of a personal bankruptcy case that exposed the owner”™s highly-leveraged finances.
The New Windsor stone countertop fabrication and installation business was founded in 2009 by Wieslaw Piasecki of Campbell Hall, Orange County.
New York Granite estimated assets of up to $50,000 and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million, in a petition filed Dec. 5 in federal bankruptcy court in Poughkeepsie.
The petition listed nearly $1.8 million owed to the top 20 unsecured creditors, including $765,887 to New York Business Development Corp. and $497,399 to Empire State Certified Development Corp. New York Granite also owes $523,414 to TD Bank for two 2015 loans secured by all assets.
Piasecki filed a Chapter 7 liquidation petition in March.
Besides New York Granite, he listed his businesses as Piasecki Realty LLC, owner of New York Granite”™s property at 857 Union Ave., and FAMP, a Polish company that distributed Bebe women”™s clothing.
He declared assets of $441,000 and liabilities of more than $4.7 million.
His house, valued at $430,000, was used to secure loans totaling $970,000 from New York Business Development Corp. and the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union.
He had personally guaranteed 26 business loans, totaling $2.8 million, and had loaned $661,738 to New York Granite.
His income from New York Granite, including his wife”™s salary as a bookkeeper, was about $182,000 a year.
New York Granite had to sell future assets to fund working capital. For instance, in February the company received $24,000 from Mantis Funding in exchange for $35,520 in future receipts, personally guaranteed by Piasecki. The company defaulted on payments in March and Mantis won a court judgment for $41,000.
The Bebe women”™s clothing business was the deal that crushed Piasecki”™s personal finances.
He established FAMP in 2016, and made a 5-year deal the following summer to pay $2.43 million in royalties to Bebe parent BB Brand Holding Inc. In October 2018, FAMP failed to make an $81,000 payment.
BB Brand sued for breach of contract and demanded all of the remaining payments. On March 12, a week before Piasecki filed for Chapter 7 liquidation, a judge awarded BB Brand nearly $2.3 million.
A bankruptcy trustee found that Piasecki had no property available for distribution to creditors, and bankruptcy Judge Cecelia Morris discharged Piasecki”™s from his debts.
Some creditors could get another chance to recover some of their claims in the New York Granite reorganization.
Piasecki was represented by Michelle L. Trier, of Genova & Malin, Wappingers Falls, who also represents New York Granite.
