A New Jersey councilman ditched the tab for his wedding reception at a catering hall co-owned by reality TV star Dina Manzo’s embattled ex-husband, Manzo’s fuming former brother-in-law claims.
Albert Manzo filed a theft of services complaint claiming that Paterson Councilman Luiz Velez still owes him for Velez’s August 2023 shindig at The Brownstown — saying it was “sad” that an elected official would bail on his bill, according to the Paterson Press.
“This is about truth and honesty,” said Albert Manzo, who co-owns the restaurant with his brother Tommy Manzo, convicted felon and “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dina’s ex.
On Monday, Velez told the outlet he’d made a deal with Tommy to pay $15,000 for the affair.
But the catering hall didn’t give him the service it promised, Velez said. On top of that, Albert Manzo allegedly changed the terms and decided to charge him $19,000 for the event.
“They did not provide the right venue,” Velez said. “It wasn’t the service I paid for.”
Albert admitted that Tommy — who is currently awaiting sentencing on racketeering charges — told Velez it would only cost $15,000 for his 200-guest wedding.
But that “extraordinary, wonderful” price — which amounted to a friends and family discount — went out the window when Velez instead brought 270 guests, which jacked up the per-person cost significantly, the Press said.
“What I take offense at is him saying he didn’t get good service,” Albert said. “Everything was amazing. He loved everything, until he had to pay.”
Velez’s unpaid tab has lingered for about a year, Albert said.
The two set up a payment plan about five months ago, he added. But the councilman has only made one payment.
Velez — who won reelection in May — claims he paid twice. And he was irritated that someone tipped off the media about his delinquent debt.
“Whoever sent you this should mind their own business,” the councilman said.
It’s not the first time either party has been subject to scandals and accusations.
About two months before the wedding in question, the city of Paterson hired Velez’s soon-to-be wife for a $35,000 per-year keyboarding clerk’s job.
And the Manzo family has been a lightning rod for controversy since at least the 1970s, when Albert and Tommy’s dad, Albert “Tiny” Manzo, Sr., ran for mayor of Paterson on a platform of hanging criminals in the courtyard of Passaic County Jail.
But Tiny — a reputed mobster himself — was found dead in the trunk of his Lincoln Continental outside a Union County supermarket in 1983, the alleged victim of a gangland assassination.
His son, Tommy, who lives in the ritzy New Jersey suburb of Franklin Lakes, has had a similarly crime-ridden journey.
Last month, he was convicted of hiring an alleged soldier from the Lucchese crime family to rough up his ex-wife’s new beau, David Cantin, in the parking lot of a Passaic County strip mall back in 2015.
In return, the feds said the 59-year-old Tommy Manzo promised his hired gun a free wedding at the Brownstone.
He was found guilty of several crimes, including committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering.
The judge will sentence him on Oct. 15.
Tommy married Dina Manzo — now Dina Cantin — in an over-the-top 2005 wedding chronicled on the VH1 reality series “My Big Fabulous Wedding.”
But the couple split in 2012 over his alleged infidelity, RHONJ star Kim DePaola told The Post in 2020 — though the couple didn’t officially divorce until 2016.
