The DeMeo family has run Bob DeMeo’s Discount Wine and Liquor at 500 Campbell Avenue for 49 years. In the summer of 2024, a city lead pipe, sidewalk, and curbing replacement project on Campbell nearly put them out of business. WAMC obtained audio of Carmella in a profanity-laced argument with Anthony DeMeo about it.
“We’re getting ready to close the doors,” DeMeo told her, “because it’s just not profitable at this point.”
Carmella said the project was ahead of schedule and the city had done what it could.
What Actually Happened
Campbell Avenue closed to through traffic around June 10, 2024. Businesses were not told it would run two months. On July 25, six weeks into the closure, Carmella told DeMeo the project would finish in “potentially three weeks or less.” It did not. The street reopened August 9. Nearly two months after it closed. Eleven businesses on the corridor absorbed the full duration without ever receiving an accurate timeline.
The business survived. As of May 2026, Bob DeMeo’s is still operating.
The Same Street, Again
Then, at the end of May 2026, the city went back.
A DEC-mandated sewer rehabilitation project launched on Campbell Avenue between Sherman Avenue and Thomas Street. Through-traffic closures. Temporary above-ground pipe systems blocking sidewalk access. Driveway restrictions for businesses in the work zone. Projected duration: three to four weeks.
The city’s own announcement acknowledged the problem: when the 2024 lead pipe work was done, the Administration had not yet been informed by the DEC that this sewer project would also be required. The street came up twice because no one coordinated the two projects before the first one started.
Eleven businesses. Two closures. Zero coordination.
Sources: WAMC, News10, CBS6, troyny.gov, 2024 reopening, troyny.gov, 2026 sewer project, News10, 2026 sewer closure