Businesses, Town Pull Together to 'Rebuild Athens'

The community continues to pull together to help the Athens Grill rebuild after Friday's devastating fire.

A fundraiser, "Rebuild Athens," has been scheduled for Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at The Riverhead Project. 

The theme, said Riverhead Project owner Dennis McDermott, is "neighbors coming together."

McDermott said he was moved by the plight of Athens Grill owner John Mantzopoulous. "This is such a tragic misfortune," he said. "Especially at this time of year, with the Fourth of July -- 'tis the season to start paying off all the bills that we've been pushing aside for the past months, during the rainy May and June. It's been rough for everyone."

McDermott said he and Anthony Coates, who is planning to wage a primary for a Riverhead town board seat, approached Mantzopoulous about organizing a fundraiser.

While Mantzopoulous has said he's reluctant to ask for help, especially with the flagging economy, his friends have rallied around him.

"Remember old-style barn raisings?" McDermott asked. "This is going to be a barbecue on the patio. We're asking everyone to bring a dish -- and bring a check."

Asking neighbors and friends to pitch in and bring a casserole or potato salad, McDermott said, is meant to foster community building. "When you see an eight-foot table covered with food, it just reads love. Being part of a community starts with what you give them -- not what you get from it."

Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter, who, along with Deputy Supervisor Jill Lewis, stood with Mantzopoulous Friday night as firemen doused his burning building, pledged his support.

Walter said with two restaurant grease fires in recent weeks -- the other was at Cliff's Rendezvous, he said -- he plans to introduce a resolution at Tuesday's town board meeting to waive building permit fees for reconstruction efforts.

"It's very important we try and get all the help we can to these businesses," he said.

Walter has also said he'd like to help facilitate Mantzopoulous' suggestion of a possible food truck, that would be set up outside the Athens Grill while repairs are made to the eatery.

As friends and neighbors, business owners and even strangers come forward to try and help Mantzopoulous, who thanked the public on Saturday, Walter said, "The true spirit of Riverhead is manifested in those businesses downtown."

Especially those, he said, that have "hung on" -- the Athens Grill has been a downtown presence for nine years.

Mantzopoulos spoke out about the tragedy on Facebook. "Friday night we had a terrible incident," he wrote. "A fire wiped away the entire restaurant."