Contractor: Councilman Held Me Against My Will

A Hampton Bays contractor has accused  Councilman Jim Malone of failing to pay him $8,000 for renovation work and keeping him in a conference room against his will when he served Malone with a lien on Dec. 15.

Anthony Prosano said he was hired for a full interior renovation of Malone’s Hampton Bays house, but Malone fell out of communication in the midst of the job and refused to pay for 55 hours of labor by him and his crew. Prosano said when he went to see Malone, who is also a deputy county clerk, at the Suffolk County Center in Riverside, Malone refused to let him leave.

Malone declined to discuss the matter when approached Tuesday afternoon. “It’s all subject to litigation now and I can’t comment,” he said.

But on a recording that Prosano made with an iPhone of their Dec. 15 conversation, Malone can be heard accusing Prosano of breaking into the house through a basement window, and telling him to stay put while he calls the police.

“Stay right there,” Malone orders Prosano on the tape, which the contractor played for Patch on Tuesday.

“You can’t hold me,” Prosano insists.

“Yes I can,” Malone says. “I’m deputy county clerk, and I'm holding you.”

Malone proceeded to make a phone call to “Bill,” asking him to send an officer over to arrest Prosano.

Prosano said Tuesday that Malone stood in front of the door and held the handle and would not step aside until he told Malone the conversation was being recorded. After that he left without running into the police, he said.

Regarding Malone’s accusation of breaking and entering, Prosano said he did nothing illegal and has spoken with the police, who are not charging him with anything.

“He was just looking for a way to get out of paying, there’s no other way to put it,” Prosano said of Malone.

Prosano said he had a Thanksgiving deadline to get the drywall and spackling done at Malone's house, but the building inspector did not complete the insulation inspection until the Monday morning before the holiday. To meet the deadline, he and his crew worked day and night for three days, he said.

But when he asked Malone to approve the work so he could move on to the next phase, Malone did not return his calls.

Prosano said Malone put down about $6,000 for materials, but owes $7,971 for labor. If the job wasn’t cut short, the whole project, including spackling, drywall, doors, trim, tilework and kitchen and bathroom renovation, was slated to be $52,000, he said.

Listen to the recording at 27east.com.

Editor's Note: Since this article posted, a design and construction consultant reported he drafted architectural drawings for Malone’s Hampton Bays house, but was then fired and never paid for the drawings, putting him out $3,850. Read the full story here.