Nassau committee approves tax settlement for Long Beach's bankrupt Allegria Hotel

The Nassau County Legislature's Rules Committee has approved a $907,481 tax settlement with the owner of the bankrupt Allegria Hotel in Long Beach.

The committee is expected to recommend that the full county legislature vote next week to approve the settlement for delinquent hotel occupancy taxes, penalties and interest.

The settlement will satisfy the $1 million that hotel owner Allen Rosenberg of Woodmere said was owed in real estate taxes. He said he has been paying the county $20,000 a month.

The settlement, which covers delinquent taxes from 2010 through 2014, was reached in May. The hotel's owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, after having declared bankruptcy in 2011.

Rosenberg said he filed for the second bankruptcy for the hotel July 2 after the state tax bureau seized a third of the hotel's rooms for 25 tax warrants and interest valued at more than $6 million since 2011.

Rosenberg said declaring bankruptcy was the only way to regain control of the seized rooms in time for the busy Fourth of July holiday.

"This raid really killed me," said Rosenberg, head of the Long Beach-based property management group Alrose King David and Alrose Allegria LLC that owns the hotel, a centerpiece of the boardwalk. "I'm not running away. . . . We have an agreement. We felt like we were in a position where we were vulnerable and got ambushed."

State tax officials said as of Tuesday, the hotel owes $6 million in back taxes, unchanged from when the rooms were seized. Officials could not say if a payment plan was in place, but said they work with property owners long before a property is seized.

Rosenberg said he has made $3 million in payments, but his balance with the state remains the same.

The bankruptcy has hurt his business and led several brides and wedding parties to cancel, Rosenberg said. He is reassuring customers and pending engagements that the hotel will remain open and is in business.

"I'm not denying we fell behind in taxes," Rosenberg said. "It's tainting the name of the hotel and it's creating brides and corporate business afraid we're not going to be around.

"We're paying our bills and to our debtors with the state and IRS. We're not going out of business." With Paul LaRocco

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.