NEW ROCHELLE, NY (June 25, 2026) — A commercial claims case accusing Robert Rubicco and his company, RUB Enterprises LLC, of stopping payment on a check for a $2,295.09 wood pellet grill was dismissed by the City Court of New Rochelle, according to court records.
The case, Big Apple Barbecue Inc. v. Robert Rubicco and RUB Enterprises LLC, Index No. CC-000562-18/NR, was filed in the Commercial Claim Part of New Rochelle City Court. Big Apple Barbecue Inc., based at 70-01 Astoria Blvd. North in East Elmhurst, sought $2,295.09 plus costs against Rubicco, of 3 Kensington Oval, and RUB Enterprises LLC, also listed at that address, on a claim for “Goods Sold and Delivered,” according to the notice of claim.
The underlying debt stemmed from Rubicco’s purchase of a Traeger Timberline 1300 pellet grill, according to two demand letters sent by attorney John A. Servider. “You became indebted to my client by purchasing a Traeger Timberline 1300 in which you issued a check which was returned for ‘STOP PAYMENT,'” Servider wrote in letters dated Aug. 15, 2017, and Oct. 5, 2017, addressed separately to Rubicco personally and to RUB Enterprises LLC “Attn: Robert Rubicco.” Each letter gave Rubicco 10 days to pay, warning that “an action will be commenced against your company and you personally” if he did not.
The Traeger Timberline 1300, the model identified in the demand letters, is a wood-fired pellet grill and smoker that the manufacturer markets as capable of grilling, smoking, baking, roasting, braising and barbecuing. According to Traeger’s website, the model offers 1,300 square inches of total cooking space, a 24-pound pellet hopper, a maximum temperature of 500 degrees Fahrenheit and a total weight of 226 pounds. The grill is listed on Traeger’s website today at a price of $1,899.99, below the $2,295.09 the demand letters say Rubicco owed in 2017.
Big Apple Barbecue’s attorney, John A. Servider, filed the Commercial Claims Application with the New Rochelle City Court on Feb. 22, 2018, along with copies of the demand letters and a $39.28 money order for filing fees, according to a cover letter included in the court file. A notice of claim dated March 6, 2018, set an initial hearing for June 6, 2018.
On the June 6, 2018, appearance date, Big Apple Barbecue appeared with counsel “ready for trial,” but Rubicco did not appear and instead faxed a letter that day requesting an adjournment, which was granted, according to a letter from attorney Katie Giusti. The case was adjourned to Sept. 12, 2018, and then to Nov. 14, 2018, for disposition, court notices show.
In a Sept. 11, 2018, letter to the court, Giusti, who had taken over the case after original counsel John Servider retired, requested a further adjournment of a trial then scheduled for Sept. 12, 2018. Giusti wrote that the file had been brought to her office on Sept. 10, 2018, and that she had a real estate closing in Queens at the same time as the trial. She noted that “[t]he Defendant is pro se in this matter and did not file an Answer, with his contact number, to the lawsuit.”
The case was ultimately dismissed. In a one-paragraph notice dated Dec. 11, 2018, sent to Big Apple Barbecue Inc., Rubicco and RUB Enterprises LLC, Chief Clerk James Generoso wrote: “Please be advised that the above captioned matter has been dismissed.” The notice does not state a reason for the dismissal.
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This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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