Babylon supervisor subject of tape in mob case

Several years ago, Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone and other town officials walked into a business under construction in Copiague and met a man named Joe DiGorga. They had heard from residents concerned that the restaurant DiGorga was opening on Great Neck Road was going to be a strip club.

"I flipped out immediately," Bellone said. "I said, 'There is no way you're going to open up a strip club here . . . I will fight you to the end.' "

This is a far cry from the way DiGorga described interactions with Bellone on a tape played Wednesday in the federal racketeering trial of John "Sonny" Franzese, on which he claimed Bellone was helping him open the business.

Outside the courtroom, DiGorga told a reporter his comments about Bellone were all made up.

On the tape, made in 2005 by Franzese's son John, who is a witness against his father in the trial, DiGorga is heard discussing his plans to open a strip club in Copiague.

DiGorga, on the tape, brags that he got help getting a certificate of occupancy from Bellone. "He pushed me through, he pushed me like crazy," DiGorga says. Asked if Bellone expected anything in return, DiGorga laughed and says, "He's expecting."

Outside the courtroom after the tape was played, a Newsday reporter asked DiGorga about his comments on the recording. He said they were "B.S." designed to relieve pressure he was getting from his associates to get the club opened. He said Bellone did him no favors, and opposed efforts to get approval for topless dancers.

In fact, town officials said, the business never was issued a certificate of occupancy.

"Steve made it very tough on us," DiGorga said. "I was blustering. . . . Steve did more to keep me closed than to help me open."

Federal prosecutors refused to comment Wednesday.

In an interview Wednesday, Bellone said he was never contacted by the FBI about the recording.

Ann Marie Jones, Babylon's commissioner of planning and development and one of the officials on the walk-through with Bellone and DiGorga, confirmed the town and Bellone were tough on DiGorga. She said they were concerned because of revitalization plans for downtown Copiague.

Bellone said news of the recording was surprising but not a big concern. "I don't think anyone would be shocked to hear about one mobster lying to another." With John Riley