New York police try to shut down gay bar

[JI7]

New York police are trying to shut down a bar for gay and transsexual black men after undercover officers found drug deals going on inside it.

But supporters of the bar said the move is motivated by racism and homophobia ‘in a community that’s increasingly white and wealthy’.

‘Manhattan so-called liberals are only so when it affects others. Otherwise, they cry ‘quality of life’ and ‘not in my neighbourhood’,’ an activist named Allen Roskoff said.

The bar’s lawyer, Tom Shanahan, said the court asked the bar to give a guarantee that no drugs would be sold or used on its premises – but the bar could not promise that.

‘We can’t guarantee that,’ Shanahan explained. ‘The terms they are insisting on would put us out of business. This is what they wanted all along.’

He also accused undercover cops of encouraging people to go into the bar to buy drugs. ‘It’s a set-up, an entrapment,’ he said.

http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/08/york-police-shut-gay-bar.html

[saltpoint]

1. The NYC cops tried something like this in the summer of 1969

-- but it didn't go quite as they had hoped.

[krispos42]

2. "...the court asked the bar to give a guarantee that no drugs would be sold or used on its premises"

Hell, the judge couldn't make that promise for the court building!

[saltpoint]

4. I wonder how many judges issue similar decrees to

owners of straight bars, either in NYC or elsewhere.

My guess is not many.

The phrase "harassment predicated on sexual orientation discrimination" pops to mind almost immediately.

[Recursion]

9. I don't know about NYC, but DC busts bars where coke is sold all the time

I think it's 3 drug arrests and the license gets pulled.

[Renew Deal]

3. This is an odd story

What's with the "liberals" quote and why is it coming from India?

Edit: This is a NY Post story that has been modified which explains some of it. http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/gay_bar_battles_bid_to_close_it_KKKLmKE9jyWvwjlIVuu5rM

[druidity33]

7. that's weird too...

since "Page Six" is usually the celebrity/gossip portion of the NYPost.

:shrug:

[HEyHEY]

5. Oh yeah, just cause they're white people it MUST be racist

So fucking tired of this shit. I doubt it is racist or homphobia, just irritating people who want to push their clean-living ideals on others. They are just as annoying.

[Radical Activist]

6. Drugs? In a bar? Nooooooo!

:eyes: :smoke:

This is the kind of story I would expect from BFE Bible Belt, not NYC.

[marmar]

8. The NYPD is notorious for this kind of crap