By JOHN R. BECKER , The Leader Herald

AMSTERDAM - The owners of the Crystal Ristorante on Lyon Street have filed for personal bankruptcy to protect their personal assets during foreclosure proceedings against the restaurant.

Tony and Carolyn Centi filed a Chapter 7 petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of New York. A summary of the petition lists $857,050 in assets, including the restaurant itself, which has a value of $611,000, and $2.14 million in liabilities, including more than $1 million on the mortgage they took out to build a new banquet hall, $110,000 owed to the Montgomery County Industrial Development Agency and $85,000 to Advance Me Inc., a Georgia-based company which gave Centi a personal loan.

The list of creditors includes several regional food and beverage distributors, among them Quandt's and Bartyzel's, both in Amsterdam. The amounts owed to many of these vendors are listed as unknown.

"I filed personal bankruptcy to protect my home," Tony Centi said Friday.

The foreclosure originally was scheduled to take place May 5 but was postponed by Ciena Capital, the bank holding the mortgage. Ciena Capital was formerly known as BLX Capital.

No new date has been set for the foreclosure. Meanwhile, business continues as usual.

"The restaurant is open just as normal, from 11 a.m. to closing," Centi said. "We're booking parties. Nothing's changed on my end."

Without a new date for the foreclosure, Centi doesn't know how long the restaurant will remain open.

"The restaurant is open until the foreclosure takes place," Centi said. "I don't have an answer that on such-and-such a date it's going to be closed."

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Crystal Bar owners file for personal bankruptcy