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Nick Kantor of Joe Cool’s Heating & Cooling Thinks Clarkstown Police Are Trying to Arrest Him For Allegedly Failing to Install A Boiler at Storms Tavern; Police Say They Just Want To Talk To Him
By Tina Traster
Last Wednesday around noon, a Clarkstown detective called an HVAC contractor who’d replaced a boiler at Storms Tavern in late March and asked him to meet him that day at the historic house the town recently inherited from Tilcon.
Nick Kantor, owner of Joe Cool’s Heating & Cooling, said he’d been told by the detective that the house’s kitchen and dining room had been damaged. Nothing was mentioned concerning the boiler Kantor’s company had replaced five months earlier. Kantor told him he wasn’t available but could meet on Thursday at midday. On Thursday morning, Kantor found himself short-staffed on a Clifton, NJ job, and texted the detective at 7:40 am explaining his situation, suggesting they reschedule for Friday. At 8:50 am on Thursday, the detective texted “we can come to Clifton or we can swing by your house. It’s not a long talk. Just trying to follow up before vacation next week.”
Kantor became alarmed about the urgency expressed by law enforcement, which shifted his attention to finding an attorney. Then at 10:04 a.m., another officer, Det. Sergeant Chris Brigando, texted him: “unfortunately we still NEED to meet today…It NEEDS to be today as we are both off next week.” The Detective said they’d come to his Sloatsburg house.
At 11:08, Brigando wrote again that they need an answer ASAP. Then, at 12:26, Kantor wrote back to the detective saying he didn’t understand why the detectives wanted to meet at his home because they originally said they wanted him to look at damage inside Storms Tavern.
“I thought this was suspicious,” said Kantor. “I told them I was arranging to have them talk with my attorney.”
Kantor said was told by his attorney Yvonne Garbett, who spoke to Clarkstown police, they were planning to arrest him for grand larceny in the third degree for billing the municipality for a job he didn’t do.” RCBJ reached out to Garbett but did not get an immediate return comment.
Clarkstown’s Chief of Police James Fay confirmed that there is an active investigation but said he could not comment.
For now, Kantor has not heard from the Clarkstown police since last Thursday but he does not understand why law enforcement is pursing him over a job completed in March. He said he’s never heard any criticism or feedback from the town since the job was completed nearly six months ago.
But Kantor suspects he’s caught up in the controversy swirling around Clarkstown’s Director of Engineering and Facilities Management Michael Gianatasio, who was put on administrative leave last month after he raised concerns about invoices to the town from Siemen’s International Industry Inc. Over the past several weeks, the Gianatasio case has become a high-profile lightning rod on whistle blowers, Clarkstown financial management, and the way the town conducts an investigation.
Kantor has ties to Gianatasio. In 2024, he was referred by Gianatasio to Clarkstown’s Deputy Supervisor Al Moroni, who needed an air conditioner replaced in his home. Kantor charged Moroni the cost of materials but no labor — around $5,600, compared to typical jobs costing between $12,000 and $13,000, according to customer invoices he shared with RCBJ. The contractor believed doing discounted work for Moroni could help him score a contract with the town.
In 2025, he won a one-year contract with the town for $99,000 to handle HVAC repair and maintenance, and the contract was renewed in 2026 for four years.
Part of Kantor’s work led to evaluating HVAC systems that Siemens had installed in the town’s facilities. In many instances, Kantor found that the work was either subpar or not done at all, he said. Kantor mostly reported to Gianatasio and to his assistant Garabet Karakoulian. When his contract was renewed; he believed the town was satisfied with his work.
On March 31, 2026, Kantor’s company was called after flooding had caused a boiler in the historic house at 407 Storms Road to fail. About a year ago, there was much celebration and fanfare over Tilcon, the mining company, donating the 1765 pre-Revolutionary War house for preservation. Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann cites the house as one of Clarkstown’s signature efforts to prioritize preservation, using it as an example to tout the recently passed Clarkstown Community Preservation Act, which has been signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul but needs to go to a public referendum.
At the time the boiler stopped working, Kantor said, the supervisor made it clear that getting a boiler up and operating was a big priority, fearing burst pipes could further damage the already fragile house. Kantor said he explained to Gianatasio and Karakoulian it would take many days to find a new boiler but he had a comparable boiler available that would work. He said the engineers agreed verbally, and that the transaction took place quickly in the interest of saving the Storms Tavern from further damage.
Gianatasio confirmed on Wednesday that these discussions took place.
“At the time, I was the hero,” said Kantor. “I was the guy who was going to save George Hoehmann’s building. I had the boiler, I was going to put it in the next day and save his beloved tavern.”
The job cost Clarkstown $15,437, though the town received the invoice after the job was completed, Kantor said.
Befuddled by the turn of events, Kantor said his attorney told him the reason Clarkstown’s detectives were pursuing him was to “flip me to become a confidential informant.” Kantor said he was told by his attorney that the detective told her: “the bosses are putting pressure on us; we need to get this done.” He was told his alliance with Gianatasio seemingly made him useful.
“I don’t know what he’s guilty of,” he added. “Or what I’m guilty of.”
It is unclear if the Clarkstown police still plan to arrest Kantor.
An alleged billing discrepancy between the town and Siemens is at the center of a high-profile dispute involving a whistle blower who was put on paid leave, while the town has issued official statements through the town attorney’s office saying no irregularities exist.
On July 6, Gianatasio was summoned to the Town Attorney’s office while the town locked him out of his office and confiscated his computer. Town Attorney Kevin Conway, who was joined by Michael Burke from Hodges Walsh & Burke of White Plains, told Gianatasio he was under investigation for omissions in his financial disclosure forms from 2023 through 2026.
The meeting followed recent disclosures Gianatasio had made to town officials in memos that flagged “unsupported labor billing” by Siemens International Industry, Inc. for work performed at the Mark Woods playground at Zukor Park in New City. A week later, the Town of Clarkstown announced the town’s Ethics Board would investigate whether the Director of Engineering and Facilities Management had violated his duty by failing to list entities in which he allegedly had a financial stake. Gianatasio says he has not hidden anything from the town and views the ethics complaint as a ruse to cover up for Siemens’ billing and for the town’s unwillingness to address the issue.
Conway later released an “internal audit” prepared by Siemens that allegedly vindicates the company’s billing practices, according to documents the town attorney released to USA Today and to RCBJ in response to a FOIL request. The documents include a detailed report prepared by Siemens, along with review by the Town Comptroller, concluding the Siemens billing was accurate and payments issued by the town were proper.
Clarkstown is apparently a very interconnected town.
Conway and Kantor also have history: In 2021, Nick Kantor’s brother Doug was killed by gang members’ stray bullets in Texas. The untimely death of his younger brother took a toll on him, and one night he got into an altercation with a former employee who claimed Kantor brandished a weapon. Kantor hired Conway to represent him and paid him a $5,000 retainer. But he wasn’t happy with Conway, fired him and got another lawyer.
“I sent him an email and a request to show me what time had been billed and to return the balance,” said Kantor. “He never answered my email.”
RCBJ reached out to Conway but did not get an immediate response.
Kantor, the father of a newborn, was put on probation for the alleged assault. His probation runs through April 2027. He feels as though he’s been roped into something that has little to do with him but admits the fear of being arrested is terrifying and haunting, even though he says he’s done nothing wrong.
