By Stephen Stirling
The Whitestone man who pleaded guilty to setting a fire that gutted the popular Lollipop Diner last month was sentenced to up to 14 years in prison last week, the Queens district attorney said.
DA Richard Brown said Michael Trantel, 42, of 15−29 159th St., was sentenced to serve between seven and 14 years in prison on April 1 for setting a bag of Halloween candy on fire after breaking into the Lollipop Diner in the Whitestone Shopping Center Nov. 2 to steal a pack of cigarettes. The bag quickly ignited a blaze that spread to other businesses through a wooden awning that lines the shopping center, causing extensive damage.
“The defendant has pleaded guilty to set a devastating fire that destroyed a popular business and caused extensive damage to neighboring stores,” Brown said. “The fire could easily have caused serious injuries or death to firefighters charged with fighting the blaze or others who may have been inside or around the building. This lengthy prison sentence is more than warranted.”
Trantel pleaded guilty to third−degree arson last month.
Lollipop Diner — completely destroyed by the blaze — has remained closed since the fire. Each of the other businesses has been able to reopen since the fire, but extensive renovations are ongoing to repair damage left by the blaze on the entire western strip of the shopping center.
A liquor store, a General Nutrition Center, NY Print Center, an Astoria Federal Savings bank, a Chase bank and a Chinese restaurant called King’s Chef also sustained damage in the blaze, but each has slowly reopened over the course of the last five months.
Lollipop Diner, on a service road at 153−31 Cross Island Pkwy. in the Whitestone Shopping Center, had been a staple in the community for decades and shoppers said Tuesday the shopping center is not the same without it.
“I still turn towards it whenever I’m here,” said Saul Pahlson. “I used to go to lunch there all the time. It was a habit. I go to the bank, I maybe get some groceries and I go grab some lunch at Lollipop. They better come back soon. No one else around here can hack it.”
Lollipop owners Michael and Kostas Psillis, who have said they were planning to reopen their business, could not be reached for comment. An answering machine message simply states the diner is undergoing renovations and will be open again soon.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e−mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 138.
