NYC Pub Declares Itself 'Autonomous Zone,' Refuses Lockdown in Defiant Stand Against Cuomo
Two New York City businessmen have taken a page from the leftist playbook for defying government, and have declared their pub an “autonomous zone” in order to keep its doors open.
The New York Post reported Staten Island’s Mac’s Public House is open, which is in defiance of public health orders to partially close down amid a resurgence of reported infections amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Mac’s Public House is located in New York’s South Shore area, which was deemed an orange zone by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo, a recent Emmy Award recipient for his “leadership” during the pandemic, declared the area to be zoned orange this past week.
According to New York City’s website, orange is bad — meaning “restaurants, bars, cafes and other food service establishments can provide outdoor dining and takeout and delivery service only.”
Orange also means a “four-person maximum per table,” while “No indoor dining is allowed.”
But Mac’s Public House co-owners Danny Presti and Keith McAlarney told the Post they won’t be closing the doors to their business.
Taking a cue from Seattle’s leftist Capital Hill neighborhood occupiers from this past summer, the two men declared the establishment an “autonomous zone.”
That seemed to work out for Seattle’s CHAZ/CHOP anarchists and other leftists, as they were allowed by Seattle Democrats to operate under their own rules for roughly a month.
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There were sadly multiple causalities.
But Mac’s is a peaceful independent nation/pub, and freedom is on the menu, as are reasonably priced cheese-filled jalapeño poppers.
And unlike the former leaders of CHOP, Presti and McAlarney don’t seem intent on committing any egregious crimes.
They apparently just hope to avoid becoming financially destitute.
They’re fighting leftists like the left, adopting a “come and get me” approach to protesting perceived injustice.
So far, the men have been hit with thousands of dollars in fines and have had their business liquor license revoked.
Neither man seems particularly afraid of the city, or its fines, though.
The men have posted a video on YouTube to update patrons on the status of their business.
They’re offering free food and drinks to guests in return for donations — apparently seeking to take advantage of a loophole which would potentially make them no longer a business, so long as they don’t receive cash directly for goods and service.
But the city expects them to pay dearly with fines.
On the issue of the mounting fines, Presti didn’t seem too concerned
“At this point, we’re OK with it, because we’re not paying it,” he said.
“[The Sheriff’s Department] is issuing us $1,000 fines, so they keep coming back. We’re still here. We’re not letting them in,” he added.
McAlarney, citing private property laws in a YouTube video, was quite clear that Mac’s Public House will remain open.
“We’re not backing down. You think you scared me by … saying I don’t have a license now to serve liquor now? Well guess what? That liquor license is on the wall. If that liquor license is going to come off the wall, it’s going to be done by Cuomo,” McAlarney said.
“You want to come down here and pull that license off the wall?” the man taunted Cuomo.
McAlarney also appeared to refer to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as “de Bozo.”
In a video appeal to the mayor, McAlarney said, “Feel free to end up coming down, and we’ll end up having a conversation before you even think about stepping foot on my property. I will not back down.”
New Yorkers have been hit hard by not only the coronavirus pandemic, but by their Democratic leadership’s overreaction to it.
The proprietors of Mac’s Public House aren’t giving in to the city’s demands — not with regard to locking up and going home.
Democrats have officially become so anti-small-business that opening up your doors to customers is now officially a crime in Staten Island.
McAlarney and Presti aren’t playing along.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
