There is room for only one Catania”™s, according to a Yonkers pizzeria proprietor.
Catania”™s Pizzeria Corp., doings business as Catania”™s Pizza in Yonkers, claims that Santino”™s East Coast Crust Inc. in Mohegan Lake, also doing business as Catania”™s Pizza, is using the name illegally.
“Catania”™s Pizza is a business name of distinctive quality,” the Yonkers restaurant stated in a lawsuit filed Nov. 4 in Westchester Supreme Court, and Santino”™s use of the name “continues to cause actual confusion to the general public, causing irreparable harm.”
The Yonkers pizzeria traces its history back to 1920 and Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. In the mid-1970s, Catania”™s opened a shop in the Tanglewood Shopping Center on Central Park Avenue, Yonkers.
Christian Koch bought the business and the name in 2017.
Santino”™s was formed this past February, according to state incorporation records. It began operating as Catania”™s Pizza in March, according to the lawsuit. It calls itself Catania”™s Pizzeria on its website and Catania”™s 1925 on a logo.
Koch claims that the Mohegan Lake eatery is using the Catania”™s name without permission and promotes itself as the second location of the Yonkers shop.
The Mohegan Lake manager was not immediately available to tell his side of the story, but an unidentified man who answered the phone said both shops probably bought the business from the same people and therefore have the same rights.
Catania”™s of Yonkers is demanding $500,000 in damages and a court order barring Catania”™s of Mohegan Lake from using the name or representing itself as affiliated with the Yonkers store.
Mount Kisco attorney Philip F. Menna represents Yonkers Catania”™s.
