Burned-out businesses have been razed on Sayville's Main Street, but legal battle clouds future

The remains of scorched storefronts on Sayville's Main Street have been cleared after a fire destroyed the businesses more than a year ago, but the property that housed them is mired in a lawsuit and its future remains a mystery.

The fire rocked Main Street’s small-business community on the evening of Oct. 25, 2024. It damaged seven businesses, including three that were completely burned out: Cafe Joelle, Paper Doll Vintage Boutique and Boris’ Barber Shop.

The building that housed those three stores was razed in January.

“I’m looking at it like, ‘OK, they’re rebuilding it, so it’s only good things to come,'” said Curinne Polizzi, the owner of Ivory & Main bridal boutique nearby. "It's an eyesore now, but … eventually, it will get back to that Main Street where everyone can walk around, that type of thing."

But it's not clear when, or how, that hole in Main Street might be filled.

The site is at the center of a lawsuit between Dominique Maciejka — who owns Paper Doll Vintage Boutique — and the group that owns the property, identified in court documents as The Lobrovich Family Irrevocable Trust of 2013. Maciejka's complaint names other defendants as well, including Cafe Joelle.

In the suit, Maciejka alleges the fire began at the cafe because unlicensed contractors were improperly and unsafely renovating the building without needed town permits. Cafe Joelle's owner, James Caporuscio, did not respond to a request for comment. 

Reports from the Sayville Fire Department and Suffolk County police, which were filed in court, show both agencies could not determine the cause of the fire.

Maciejka is seeking at least $4.5 million in damages. Her attorney, Vess Mitev, said the property will remain undeveloped "for the foreseeable future" as the legal battle plays out.

"There’s a lot of evidence to go through … this is going to go on for a while,” said Mitev, who added that "we have depositions that are scheduled to take place over the next few months, over multiple defendants."

Newsday was unable to reach a representative of The Lobrovich Family Trust for comment.

A 'clearer idea' soon?

Eileen Tyznar, of the Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce, said the property owner expects to have a "clearer idea" around mid-February of what comes next for the site. Tyznar said she was told by the property owner that there "are different options they're considering" for the now-vacant land, but she does not know the specifics.

Tyznar spearheaded an effort that raised $15,000 for each of the seven businesses impacted by the fire, Newsday reported in 2024. “We’re hopeful that maybe a restaurant and retail will come back there again,” she said. 

Mitev said Paper Doll Vintage Boutique has a new location on Railroad Avenue, although the goal is to eventually rebuild on the old Main Street site. Cafe Joelle had opened a location off Main Street before the fire, according to Tyznar, who said Boris’ Barber Shop also has found another storefront nearby.

Uncertainty next door

The fire just recently drove out another store more than a year after the flames were extinguished: Hammer & Stain, a craft studio that was next to the razed building, recently had to shut down its Sayville operation.

“Am I worried? Absolutely, ” said studio owner Sandra Bernius, who also has a location in Ronkonkoma. “We are currently 100% closed in our Sayville location.”

Since the fire, Bernius had been operating out of a smaller room in the back of her fire-damaged Sayville building, which is owned by a different landlord. The backroom studio had a temporary heating system, but the building became too cold to use around Christmas, she said.

Bernius said she wants to eventually return to the Sayville location but doesn't know if it will be possible. She said she doesn’t know when repairs will take place on her building.

“Two years will have gone by, by the time we get reopened, if that’s even the case,” she said. “It’s not just about loss of business during that time, but it’s about staying up in the trends and being a leader in the industry and now kind of being eaten by competition around the industry.”