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"This Is A Battle": Protesters, Proud Boys, And Elected Officials Rally Against Public Health Measures Outside Staten Island Bar
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 3, 2020
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 3, 2020
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One day after city sheriffs arrested a Staten Island bar owner for openly flouting coronavirus restrictions, hundreds of protesters — including Proud Boys and some Republican officials — gathered outside the tavern on Wednesday to decry the public health measures.
The group waved pro-Trump and Thin Blue Line flags, chanting "Cuomo sucks" and singing Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going To Take It" on the street in front of Mac's Public House. "This is a battle, people," Scott LoBaido, a pro-NYPD activist who organized the demonstration, told the crowd. "This is fucking patriotism."
The one-year-old tavern has emerged as the center of Staten Island's anti-lockdown movement in recent days. After declaring Mac's an "Autonomous Zone" last week, the bar's owners have racked up numerous fines and vacate orders from both state and city authorities for ignoring the state's orange zone restrictions, which prohibit indoor dining.
The East Shore neighborhood where Mac's is located has a COVID positivity rate of 8.62 percent — the highest total in all of Staten Island, and among the worst infection rates of any ZIP code in the city.
Still, the bar stayed open to patrons this week. On Tuesday night, city sheriffs arrested Danny Presti, the pub's 34-year-old co-owner, on charges of obstructing governmental administration.
The demonstration on Wednesday drew familiar faces from the small but vocal contingent of right-wing New Yorkers opposed to measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.
Heshy Tischler, an Orthodox radio host arrested for inciting a riot in October, assured the attendees that "Brooklyn stands behind you." Others chanted "Proud Boys in the house," with one speaker reportedly leading the crowd through the group's rallying cry: "I am a proud Western Chauvinist."
City Councilman Joe Borelli also addressed the crowd after he tweeted a photo of himself standing in front of a painting of Mayor Bill de Blasio performing a sexual act on an apple. Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, who will soon represent the borough in Congress, did not attend the event, but voiced her support on Twitter, accusing Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio of "unfairly punishing constituents for simply trying to lead a normal life."
Earlier in the day, State Senator Andrew Lanza was physically restrained by the sheriffs after attempting to push his way into the bar. Video shows him attempting to breach the line of sheriffs, holding a piece of cardboard that he claimed was authorization to represent the owners as their attorney.
"Senator Lanza tried to push back deputy sheriffs, and the deputy sheriffs pushed him back out," NYC Sheriff Joseph Fucito told Gothamist. "The deputy sheriffs carried themselves appropriately."
There were no summonses issued to protesters on Wednesday night. According to Fucito, the demonstration was monitored by roughly 15 deputy sheriffs, along with a larger "relief force" of sheriffs and NYPD officers stationed several blocks away. It wasn't clear why NYPD officers were not directly policing the protest.
"Guess what? There's not enough fucking sheriffs!" shouted one protester. Another attendee, Christine Salica, described the demonstration as "a revolution," according to the SI Advance. "Cuomo and his legislators are collecting our paychecks and they are putting us out of work," she said.
Asked about the demonstration during his briefing on Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio described the anti-lockdown group as a fringe movement, not representative of most New Yorkers who are taking the virus seriously.
"Clearly the rules are ultimately what matter here, and they're being enforced," the mayor said. "Fatigue is real, of course it's real, we're humans. But its' not stopping most New Yorkers from doing what they have to do."
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COVID-19
staten island
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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