Arrested bar owner vows to keep fighting NYC lockdown
Danny Presti, co-owner of Mac's Public House in Staten Island, tells 'Fox & Friends' he plans to reopen with or without the city's permission.
The owner of a Staten Island bar who was arrested this week for defying New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "orange zone" coronavirus orders told "Fox & Friends" he won't stop fighting to save his business.
"At this point," Danny Presti, co-owner of Mac's Public House, said, "we are losing faith, and kind of lost faith in the ability for our local and city governments to help us."
Presti's defiance came to a head Tuesday night when sheriffs formally shut down the pub -- which his business partner Keith McAlarney had deemed an "Autonomous Zone" in the spirit of this summer's "CHAZ" enclave in Seattle.
STATEN ISLAND BAR CO-OWNER SPEAKS OUT AFTER ARREST FOR DEFYING NEW YORK COVID-19 ORDERS
Cuomo responded Wednesday in a statement through his spokesman, Jack Sterne.
"This owner is learning that actions have consequences," Cuomo said. "Breaking the law and putting your neighbors' lives at risk during a global pandemic to make a political statement is simply unacceptable."
The bar owner said he'd like to take politics out of it as he is just blocks away from locations where indoor dining is permitted.
SUPPORTERS PROTEST OUTSIDE STATEN ISLAND BAR IN DEFIANCE OF COVID RESTRICTIONS
"We just need in some way to either be assisted or to get our places open and these state agencies and city agencies that come in and threaten to fine us or pull our licenses every single day, it's not right," Presti said.
Instead of helping, he said agencies like the state liquor authority and the TSA are "kicking open the door and then threatening tens of thousands of dollars of fines every single day."
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Hundreds protested the COVID-19 restrictions outside of Mac's Public House on Wednesday.
"This is what we're saying to our governments, and Governor Cuomo and the mayor, is you have to stop this and you need to assist us," he said.
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