Billionaire Row Hopes $167K Di Fara Pizza Party Will Stop Shelter

NEW YORK CITY — Residents of Billionaire's Row hope to stop Mayor Bill de Blasio from opening a homeless shelter in their ritzy Midtown Manhattan neighborhood by buying him a $168,000 slice of pizza.

The Midtown Manhattan told the Mayor Thursday that they'd donate the cash Di Fara Pizza needs to reopen after the famous Midwood pizzeria was seized by the state — and which de Blasio said he'd do "anything" to rescue — but only if the mayor listens to their arguments against a homeless shelter near Central Park South.

"The 'Billionaire's Row' residents will throw de Blasio the world's biggest pizza party, to sit down with the concerned residents," Michael Fishcher, president of the Central Park South Civic Association, wrote on his GoFundMe campaign.

"Once he realized the danger that this proposed shelter is, he will feel like he just got a pizza pie in his face."

The West 58th Street residents are hoping the mayor will reconsider a 140-bed men's shelter proposed to open at the Park Savoy Hotel at 158 W. 58th St., one block south of Central Park.

The fate of the shelter — part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's "Turning the Tide" plan to create 90 new homeless shelters in neighborhoods across the city — has hung in the balance since June when a state Appellate Division’s First Judicial Department ruled against the West 58th Street Coalition, allowing the project to continue, and the group vowed to appeal.

Residents said de Blasio has ignored their concerns that the building is a "fire trap" because it only has one exit and would endanger the lives of its inhabitants.

"Mr. Mayor, you mentioned that you would do anything to help save, to keep open the Di Fara Pizza," said Fischer. “Would you also do anything to save a life?"

De Blasio has not yet responded to the Billionaire's Row residents requests, but he made a point of singling out Di Fara Pizza Wednesday tweeting a promise to save it from a $167,506.75 debt to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

"My team and I are looking into how we can help resolve this situation," de Blasio tweeted. "I'm ready to do anything I can to get them reopened — as are thousands of New York City pizza-lovers."

The Mayor's Press Office did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment about whether he'd consider accepting cash from the Central Park South Civic Association.

Fishcher told reporters outside the shelter Thursday that he has never tried Di Fara Pizza, nor has he reached out to the restaurant to discuss his offer, but that he'd go get the mayor's pizza himself it got him a meeting.

"I've heard it's good pizza," he said. "I might even try it."

Patch reporter Brendan Krisel contributed to this report.