The lovely-looking restaurant and bar The Breslin begins lunch service tomorrow, and co-owner Ken Friedman (The Spotted Pig) is planning on serving alcohol despite objections from the Masjid Ar-Rahman mosque across the street. Earlier this month the mosque’s leaders called a meeting with Friedman at The Ace Hotel, where The Breslin is located, and asked, “Can you move the bar?” Friedman’s response makes us want to hurry over to The Breslin right now for a dram of Laphroaig to show our support (and drown out the voices):
I laughed. And the guy said, “Oh, you think that’s funny?” And I said, “Yeah, that is funny, that is really funny, because we’re not going to move the bar just because you discovered we’re serving booze.” Can you name one restaurant in New York that doesn’t serve booze? I said, “This is the United States of America and we’ll do whatever the fuck we want.” He said the mosque had suggested it couldn’t control the behavior of “a few bad eggs”; i.e., we could get a brick through our window.
Friedman notified police of the threat, but just to show he’s not a hard-hearted man, that it’s not all dollars and cents, he agreed to put a curtain over the windows so devout Muslims wouldn’t be corrupted by the sight of infidel inebriation. But the curtain hasn’t arrived yet, so over the weekend he actually taped paper over the windows to hide a gay wedding. A volunteer at the mosque says city law forbids serving liquor within 200 feet of a place of worship and that “not more than 200 feet is between the mosque and the bar.”
But Ace Hotel developer Andrew Zobler tells The Observer, “The law is clear that in order for that to apply it has to be an exclusively dedicated house of worship, and at their space they have both residences and a restaurant, so basically, because of those uses the law allowed there to be a bar within 200 feet. Everyone was aware of that when the liquor license was granted.” And Friedman adds, “They can threaten, but they can’t really stop us.” Yeah, heh, what are these devout, pissed-off Muslims gonna do?
Another article on the same story below the fold. I believe this is a much more important story than perhaps even terrorism as we are more familiar with it, as this type of extortion and intimidation wide spread can collapse a culture and civilization such as ours much much faster than occasional attack.
Eeyore for Vlad
Mosque ‘unhappy’ with booze served at New York resto-bar, threatened brick toss
Spotted Piglet Hiccups: Boozy Breslin Clashes With Mosque
The much-hyped, soon-to-open Breslin restaurant, situated in the 12-story Ace Hotel on Broadway and 29th, is giving members of the Masjid Ar-Rahman mosque across the street some agita. “Five times a day, there’s a hundred cabs on the street—the good news is you can always get a cab,” co-owner Ken Friedman told the Transom the other evening. He said some mosque visitors “object to seeing people drink alcohol.”
Mr. Friedman and his partner, Spotted Pig chef April Bloomfield, did agree to nix plans for a dive bar in a townhouse next door, but as for the restaurant, “I said, ‘This is the United States of America and we’ll do whatever the fuck we want.’” He said the mosque had suggested it couldn’t control the behavior of “a few bad eggs”; i.e., “we could get a brick through our window.” Mr. Friedman said he made the police aware of this threat.
A volunteer at the mosque returning a call from the Transom said that a law forbids serving liquor within 200 feet of a place of worship and that “not more than 200 feet is between the mosque and the bar.” To which Andrew Zobler, the hotel’s developer, responded: “The law is clear that in order for that to apply it has to be an exclusively dedicated house of worship, and at their space they have both residences and a restaurant, so basically, because of those uses the law allowed there to be a bar within 200 feet. Everyone was aware of that when the liquor license was granted.” He added: “Out of neighborliness and respect we’ve voluntarily acquiesced to covering the window with a curtain.”
The Breslin will serve breakfast and lunch beginning Thursday, Oct. 29, and add dinner a week or so later. U2 hosted a party there earlier in the month, and Alain Ducasse recently named its fries the best in New York. The restaurant was named for James Breslin, who originally opened the hotel as the Breslin in 1904 and hosted the longest boxing match in history in a special ring he built in its basement (he also once dated an Andrews sister). “He was the Andre Balazs of his time,” Mr. Friedman said.
He added that he and Ms. Bloomfield are optimistic about the restaurant’s prospects, despite the recent shuttering of another venture, the pricier John Dory on 10th Avenue. He said they plan to reopen the John Dory in a space four times as large (he would not reveal the location), and make it more casual, “like the Spotted Pig with fish.” They further hope to do some “weird things” like a bakery, a bar and perhaps “a country inn.” (This in addition to the Rusty Knot, which Mr. Friedman owns with Taavo Somer, and Locanda Verde, a restaurant he opened in the former Ago space with Robert De Niro, Ira Drukier and Richard Born of the Greenwich Hotel)
When the Transom visited, the “doily curtain” covering had not yet arrived, and paper has been taped to the windows to shield the mosque’s worshipers from the sight of a gay wedding over the weekend. “They can threaten, but they can’t really stop us,” Mr. Friedman said.
“This is the United States of America and we’ll do whatever the fuck we want.”
Absolutely priceless !!! Love it. Makes me want to go there next time I’m in the area.
Muslims, like rust, never sleep. I’m afraid for Mr Friedman; this will not only not go away, it will get worse. Please rally around him.
“I believe this is a much more important story than perhaps even terrorism.”
Exactly. Politicial djihad is much more dangerous than military djihad. Everybody opposes terrorism (well, almost everybody). It’s easy to recognise it when you see it. Western police forces are currently fighting it, with no little success.
But “peaceful and reasonable requests by law-abiding” Muslims ? They are much more difficult to resist. Note that the bar owner did yield to Muslims, to a degree : he volunteered to hide his gay clients from their view.
Actually, there is no difference in nature between this and terrorism : only a difference in degree. In fact, the very possibility of terrorism, however remote, is usually enough to make communities yield to such demands.
This is happening currently all over the West.
Let’s not forget that the only reason the owner was able to say he’d do “whatever the f*** he likes” is that his neighbourhood seems to be overwhelmingly non-Muslim. If it had been, say, 20 % Muslim, I doubt he could have been so brazen.
Also, one can be sure this is not the end of the story. Other attempts will be made. It remains to be seen how the situation will evolve.
Robert thank you for the comment.
What galls me is that by shielding his gay clients from the mosque, he will enable the gay community of NYC to continue living in a multi-culti fantasy and aiding and abetting the enemy. He should have the gay events out in the open where the mosque members have clear access to the guests. I am guessing after a few short minutes, homosexual Americans may begin to realize who their enemies actually are. Hint: it is not the Republican party.
…some mosque visitors “object to seeing people drink alcohol.”
Then it should be explained to them that they should look the other way.
This is still the United States of America, NOT the North American Department of Islamastan – and putting up with this kind of s**t is just the beginning of how the U.K. has gradually become Shoddy Arabia West.
If the Liquor Control Board grants a license in NYC, you can be quite sure the recipient complies with any LEGAL restrictions regarding religion.
As I’m sure Mr. Friedman is aware, a brick through a window can – and should – be returned with interest. Followed by other objects, large and/or flaming, as seem to be required…
The problem is, like fighting organized crime which has used similar or identical ‘protection racket’ tactics for centuries, this is hard for the police to control as its a large nebulous group. However, also like organized crime, its very easy for the police to control retaliation to it. The bar owners will likely close and move rather than throw anything back. This is because while the moskards likely will face no consequences for the threats or even actions, we all know that the bar owner most certainly will from our own police and others. The fantasy of retaliation is a great one. I certainly share it. But who is actually going to do it when our own governments do not, to borrow a phrase, ‘have our backs’.
Maybe Mr Friedman should point out that he has no control over his patrons once they have left his bar and if they (the mosque users)try to intimidate or get rough with the bar users they might find out just how hated they really are.
islamic zeal vs alcohol fuelled anger,hmm, could get interesting.
Could, but almost certainly will not. People will go drink somewhere else. it is very sad that people think fighting tyrany and Islamic supremacism makes one a racist but they do think that. So there you go. If people feel intimidated his bar will just close. A few people will support him who live nearby but not enough and of course, the police will keep a much better lookout for people like us seeking retaliation, vigilantism, or even self defense than for the mosquards.