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Local GOP Group Criticized For "COVID Conga Line" At Indoor Holiday Party
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 22, 2020
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 22, 2020
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Governor Andrew Cuomo chastised a local Republican club on Tuesday, after members of the group were spotted cutting loose at a Queens holiday party without masks or social distancing earlier this month.
The indoor gathering was hosted on December 9th by the Whitestone Republican Club, whose controversial president, Vickie Paladino, is currently running for City Council.
Video shared to Twitter this week shows Paladino strutting and shimmying to the Bee Gees, before joining more than a dozen people, several of them elderly, on a conga line. At least 50 people appear to be in the room, with no masks in sight, except for a few people seen working in the restaurant as waitstaff.
"COVID conga lines are not smart. That’s my official position," Governor Cuomo said on Tuesday, when asked about the clip. "Why you would do an unmasked conga line in the middle of a pandemic, whatever your political persuasion, defies logical explanation."
Paladino did not return a request for comment. The 66-year-old, whose viral tirade against Mayor de Blasio's alleged disrespect for police turned into a brief internet meme, also mounted a failed bid for State Senate in 2018. The campaign was marked by virulent bigotry, and attracted support from Proud Boys and neo-Nazis.
She is currently running to replace Councilman Paul Vallone, a Democrat representing several northeast Queens neighborhoods.
In a statement shared on Facebook, the Whitestone Republican Club said that attendees largely adhered to public health guidelines, despite evidence otherwise. "Every attendee was told to wear a mask, and everyone had one when entering, or was given one," the statement reads.
Under an executive order from Governor Cuomo, all private events are capped at 10 people. State guidelines also mandate that masks be worn when social distancing isn't possible.
According to the Queens Daily Eagle, the event was held at the Il Braco restaurant in Little Neck, near the border of Long Island. In September, the owners of the Italian restaurant filed a $2 billion class action lawsuit against the state, attempting to force the return of indoor dining.
More recently, Il Braco co-owner Joe Oppedisano was involved in a seaplane crash near the Throgs Neck Bridge that left one passenger dead.
Messages left at the restaurant were not returned.
The New York Young Republican Club also drew widespread condemnations this month for threatening to host an indoor gala in the five boroughs — before ultimately moving the maskless event to New Jersey.
Speaking on NY1 Monday night, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city would follow-up with possible fines for the Queens party's hosts.
"But look, I mean, at this point, what do people need to learn about the coronavirus to understand it can be deadly?" the mayor added. "They could say that they believe in freedom and liberty, but you know what the people that are going to get that disease from you, you're taking away their freedom and liberty."
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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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