{"id":66,"date":"2023-11-15T22:18:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T22:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/table-of-success.local\/?p=66"},"modified":"2023-12-18T13:32:48","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T13:32:48","slug":"robert-and-zhan-petrosyants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tableofsuccess.mysites.io\/robert-and-zhan-petrosyants\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert and Zhan Petrosyants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Eric Adams loves to paint the town red, and he isn’t afraid to push back<\/a> against critics who want him at home in bed after he clocks out. “They’re saying that Eric goes out to restaurants. Breaking news, duh, yes I do and I don’t hide in doing it,” the mayor said in August 2022. For years, two of his favorite people to party with have been identical twin brothers Robert and Zhan (aka Johnny) Petrosyants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first glance, Robert and Zhan Petrosyants seem to embody a glitzy, New York City nightlife-tinted version of the American Dream. They grew up in a Christian Armenian family in Turkmenistan, where they told Grub Street<\/a> they “faced daily dangers and discrimination,” and moved to New York in 1996. Once in the city, the duo became buzzy restaurateurs. It’s a kind of #hustleharder fairy tale\u2014until you learn about all of the decade-plus of various allegations that the brothers have amassed since then: unpaid taxes by a restaurant they funded<\/a>, numerous unpaid debts<\/a> for restaurant investments that never materialized<\/a>, questionable alcohol sales, and convictions<\/a> for a \u201ccheck cashing scheme\u201d\u2014one for each brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2012, the twins opened Woodland, an often-packed brunch spot with an emphasis on Caribbean fare<\/a> and popping DJ sets in Park Slope\u2014a restaurant Adams began frequenting when he became Brooklyn borough president in 2014, using it as a venue for fundraisers and even final-round interviews for his team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Barely a month after Adams took office as BP, both brothers pled guilty<\/a> to a federal charge in a check-cashing scheme that involved medical billing companies. Adams continued to frequent Woodland, and when the brothers opened up a pizza restaurant called Forno Rosso later that year, the BP was there to help cut the ribbon<\/a>. (Woodland closed its doors in January 2020, shortly after the State Liquor Authority revoked its liquor license<\/a> over noise complaints. <\/strong>“Fuck you,” Woodland’s attorney, Frank Carone<\/a>, allegedly told a lawyer<\/a> from the SLA during the proceedings. “You are a fucking liar.” In a filing with the court, Carone admitted he called the lawyer a “liar,” but only because the lawyer questioned the “ethics and morals” of his client to the<\/a> judge. (Forno Rosso shuttered in 2022 over unpaid taxes<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n