Restaurateur charged on Lynn warrant

LYNN – A District Court judge issued a criminal warrant Wednesday for Anthony Athanas Jr., after he failed to appear at an arraignment in Lynn District Court on a charge of failure to maintain a safe structure – the long-shuttered Anthony’s Hawthorne Restaurant in Lynn – in violation of the state building code, according to City Attorney Vincent Phelan.”We’re just looking to treat them the same as anybody else,” Phelan said outside the courtroom. “The city has continued this (issue) for them to comply in court on four occasions, each time they’ve done a little bit more but it’s just stalled.”Anthony Athanas Jr. and his family – also longtime owners of Hawthorne By the Sea in Swampscott and Anthony’s Pier 4 in Boston – closed the Lynn restaurant 2003 after operating the restaurant for eight decades.The family came under fire in July when a portion of the deteriorating building crashed to the sidewalk.Athanas Family Attorney Theodore Tedeschi said he was completely unaware there was a hearing on Wednesday.”We are so very sorry for this mix-up,” he said. “I don’t believe I saw any notice for the hearing but we are working with the Building Department and I know things are proceeding at pace.”George Regan, a spokesman for Anthony Athanas Jr., said the hearing was “news to me” and called the issuance of the warrant “absolutely ridiculous.””The application for the next hearing never came for him, he’s out of the country,” Regan said. “Obviously we’ll deal with it but this is just a tempest in a teapot ? Anthony and his brothers are not David Jansen in ‘The Fugitive.'”Economic Development and Industrial Corporation Executive Director James Cowdell said Phelan’s assertion that the family does only enough to stall the city sums up the family’s modus operandi.”I’m not surprised by this at all,” he said. Look at the General Glover House in Swampscott, that has been vacant, abandoned and falling down for 20 years, and the Hawthorne in Lynn has been vacant, abandoned and falling down for 10 years.”Cowdell has been trying to work with the family to develop the site. EDIC even footed the bill for soil testing in the Hawthorne parking lot, Cowdell noted.”They have a track record where they don’t spend, don’t spend and don’t spend until there is a crisis. Then they put a Band-Aid on it,” he said. “My guess is they’ll put a Band-Aid on this.”City building inspectors issued a complaint in July that noted “the façade is falling” and indicated the sidewalk in front of the building should be roped off, The Daily Item previously reported.At the time, family spokesman Wig Zamore said that a contractor would be hired to repair exterior brickwork at the site and initially that happened.A repair company put up scaffolding and made some emergency repairs but Phelan said a dispute between the contractor and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) resulted in a work stoppage.The scaffolding around the building remains and is blocking a curb cut that allows handicapped access to the sidewalk, Phelan said. This forces pedestrians and those in wheelchairs into the street, causing a safety hazard, he said.Phelan said the city has tried to work out an agreement with the Athanas family but the family has “ignored everything and failed to appear here in Lynn District Court today for an arraignment.”Phelan told Lynn District Court Judge Ellen Flatley that issuing the warrant “was the last thing the city wanted to do,” but is left with no alternative to request a warrant since Athanas has repeatedly failed to appear in court. Flatley issued the warrant.Phelan said the family could be fined $1,000 a day for the violation, according to statute. “We’re just looking for the building to be safe,” he said.Tedeschi called the failure to appear simply “a monumental mix up,” but Cowdell said no one should be shocked that Athanas did not show up for court.”What a sad commentary for the family legacy,” he said.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at cmoulton@