Muslims Threaten Breslin Owner After He Laughs Off Bar Demand

ENOUGH ! THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA not some fuckin theocracy that batters their women and have a book that is absolutely disrespected by violent interpretation that butchers their so called brothers,,,sunni shia etc. shit.....and now a BAR in NYC go back,,, your not wanted as enslaved pitiable slugs of humanity here . YOU CHOSE NOT TO BECOME RELIGIOUS TOLERANT GET OUT OF AMERICA

It's like the local weight watchers to ask a bakery to not put cakes in the window. I respect the choices of others but this is a bulging metropolis. don't make the mistake of confusing a few idiot muslims with the gentle faith of islam.

Holy crapola! this is the BIG apple...the city that never sleeps. Get a life and get over it Mr Muslim!

Kim :)

The Ace hotel now has plants in front of the windows

so the Arabs do not have to be offended,that's a

concession,what's next? mirrored glass?

The Co-op 1200 Broadway next to this" taxi driver mosque"

surely has owners that cook pig meat,guess they will have to move.

I'm not sure about this article. I think I agree with a lot of people here, the author of the article did a terrible job.

These assholes make all Muslims look bad.... The religion is all about tolerance' isn't it? They are soo wound up in their little archaic worlds that they think passing by a bottle of Patron will make them go to hell when they die.. Idiots...

John, let's not get nuts with the "infidel" and "Yeah, heh, what are these devout, pissed-off Muslims gonna do?" comments. You're not helping tolerance here. I am not allowed to park in front of churches but I'm not going to assume the people that go to the church are going to blow up a Planned Parenthood.

Hi, I just wanted to comment about "religious freedom". You are guaranteed the freedom of religion in the United States constitution. This means that the state shall not choose which religion you practice. This only restricts the state. This does not mean that people have to respect your religion. At most, the state is respecting peoples 'right to choose' religion individually, without restriction from the state.

As far as the zoning law in the city; there is a street where I live that has a christian church, catholic monestary, jewish cynagog, and an islomic mosque in the same block, and I have always felt that this area must have been zoned for bombing.

I hope people here can tolerate my ignorance of correct spelling and arbitrary rules of grammar.

NICKFROMSPACE

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I think the bar owner covering the windows is about as much respect for the customs as can be expected. I think enforcing drunk & disorderly in the area should be strictly enforced as well. Other then that it is hard to impose standards on a society built on different values.

NYC Florists

To all of you who are going on about the bar, the issue is not at all about alcohol. It's about pork! I followed one of the links to the Observer article and discovered this money quote: "After the recent FergusStock, a festival during which famed British chef Fergus Henderson cooked whole pigs for a rapt crowd of New York chefs and foodies, Mr. Friedman said the mosque’s leaders called a meeting with the hotel. “They said, ‘Can you move the bar?’”"

The Muslim objection came only after FergusStock and the cooking of whole pigs. That the bar serves alcohol is a problem for them, but the pigs! Oy vey! The pigs!!

Muslims are not content to let other people live their own lives. Jews don't eat pork, and they don't bug our ass about it either. Live and let live.

The bar owner was totally justified in his response. The Muslim was being highly offensive by walking in there and asking him to move his bar, because it was against his utterly unprovable delusions that some god named "Allah" runs everything.

Make no mistake: walking in there and asking the owner to "move" his bar is a hostile and aggressive act. If you think it was a polite request you have much to learn about islam and bullying. The bar owner was standing up to the bullying.

How would you apologists here like it if I walked into your business and demanded you MOVE IT because my flying spaghetti monster god demands it?? This is the equivalent of what happened. It's highly offensive, confrontational and thuggish.

Do you realize what would be involved in "moving" the bar? Do you realize the magnitude of the task being requested of the bar owner? The costs? The time? The lost business?? Hello?!!

Friedman response is quite right. You're in America and we can do what the f*** we want. Muslims are always demanding concessions that bring us in to line with their ideology, yet, they make none to appease our sensibilities. It would be nice if they would stop hating, threatening, flag-burning, complaining, accusing us of bias and discrimination. It would be even nicer if they would respect our laws and not force their ideology upon us. So they say they don't drink. Good for them. We do. Leave us alone. If they don't like the presence of a bar, don't look at it. Just live and let live. No threats. No injuries. Else, if they bring a brick, we bring a gun. Then they'll understand loud and clear that this is America and we can do what the f*** we want.

I don't know...I felt it was pretty respectufl that he ordered curtains and pappered the windows.

If I were the bar owner of the new soon to be not trendy

Ace Hotel, I would put on the side of my hotel wall facing

the "taxi driver" mosque ,a big illuminated bottle of

Schmirnov Vodka.

It was OK for these Muslim's that own several building together where this mosque resides to almost have these

buildings collapse when they were doing illegal construction on them.The DOB closed them down for several

months till they became code compliant.

wonder how this will end...

Reroute the "Heritage of Pride Parade" past that place.

If the bar owner is smart he'll start carrying a gun at ALL times. These Muzzies WILL kill you and "go to heaven" for doing it. Islam is the enemy of mankind, and you better get used to that because if you don't, we are all doomed. Here is one girl who is doomed because the morons in the justice system think they are just dealing with a "runaway" when the ex Muslim girl herself tells everyone she WILL BE KILLED if force to return home. Count on it, she will be killed if her father gets her back:

FULL STORY

he hung the paper with mosquing tape

*ack*

The bar owner is in the right and I have no problem with how this article was written. The mosque is in Manhattan and they're going to bitch about a bar being across the street? The 'go fuck yourself' response is appropriate because their request is ludicrous.

Agreed, bravo for the bar owner. I had a business across the street from a mosque. Some of the Muslims thought nothing of parking their cars in my lot. Finally, had to tell them the next time it happened their cars would be blocked in until the police arrived to tow them.

What I didn't understand at the time was the sheer malice in the eyes of some of those Muslims with which I had conversation. I didn't know as a kafir I wasn't allowed to challenge any Muslims behavior. 9/11 was a call for everyone to educate themselves about Islam, by your comments many of you are woefully ignorant. And I would hazard to guess, willfully so.

Ronald said: "What I didn't understand at the time was the sheer malice in the eyes of some of those Muslims with which I had conversation. I didn't know as a kafir I wasn't allowed to challenge any Muslims behavior."

You're dead right, Ronald. In their eyes, we have no right to respond to anything they do because their being followers of Mohammed mean they are superior to us. To their mind, when they kill us, we should not respond with anything but submission to them. That is why bin Laden and company did not expect the response they got after 9/11. That is why the huge outrage and the sending of jihadis into Iraq and Afghanistan. Their attitude is you are subservient to us; we can kill you, slap you around, force our views on you, determine the way you live, deprive you of life liberty and the pursuit of happyness and you must take it because you're not Muslim. Ask the Copts of Egypt how true Ronald's statement is. The posters on this list who don't understand the enemy in our midst are willfully blind morons.

I'm a tolerant lefty, but fuck these assholes. Good for the bar owner and good for JDS.

Go back to North Waziristan if you want to ban other people from drinking and leave this open society the F alone. Try not to abuse your women in the process you entitled pricks.

How about I don't serve or drink alcohol within 200 feet of you if you stop beating your women and looking down upon the rest of humanity?

This is how it starts... next they'll want building owners to install foot washes in bathrooms.

Then, they'll say that New York City is the 3rd holiest city in Islam.... Oh wait, they already did that with Jerusalem.

This Gothamist writer sounds like a total dick.

I agree!

Hmmmm...

Someone complains about a business encroaching on their territory, business sez go f--- yourself (in so many words), plaintiff then threatens them with physical harm...

Both parties sound like true New Yorkers to me!

If not for bars, taxi drivers would probably lose about 1/3rd of their business.

Somehow I think the one three precinct will be very busy

keeping these two neighbor's apart.

The devil/Satan alcohol bar and the Taxi drivers mosque.

"You can't write stuff like this".

Good for you. We'll do whatever the fuck we want indeed. If they don't like it there are pleny of third world hell holes they can crawl back to. When in Rome asshole.

Fuck 'em.

Throw some swine flu at these zealots.

This law perplexes me... my house of worship is a bar.

But the Gothamist Libtard says: "But Muslims are peaceful! Why are infidels so evil and racially profile all the innocent little brown muslim people like this? Amerikkka suckkks!"

Great, they covered the windows.

Now they won't see that brick coming until it is through the window and the perpetrator is gone with no witnesses.

Catering to delusion is not good. It is time to stand up to the ancient nonsense of religion.

Why is no one outraged at the Muslim that stereotypes his own people?

Anything that gets in the way of my drink should be blown to Kingdome Come.

i think everyone is making assumptions in regards to this situation. if you were to build a bar , get a liquor license and open for business obviously there is no law broken. this guy definitely dumped a lot of money into this business. im not here to judge the Muslim or the bar owner.each person has his side of the story, but the law is the law and the business owner has a right to do as he pleases as long as it is lawful. people need to stop blowing things out of proportion. someones religious views have nothing to do with business. i am a bar owner in Brooklyn, new york and i would not move my business for anyone s religious views or any other reason.

Gothamist should never be invited back to the Brian Lehrer Show, that's for sure!

fuck islam, fuck religion trying to control non-religious people. if they want to run the show, they can haul ass back to their sandy backwards countries

Dear muppets who don't know the difference between bloggers and journalists,

Gothamist is a blog. Most of its posts direct you to articles from news sources, which employ journalists. There you can find all of the balanced or not-balanced content, which may or may not cause you to get your panties in a bunch.

So, stop blaming JDS for not providing the balance you are seeking in his "reporting". He is and always has been snarky in his blog posts. That is his prerogative. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. Unless, of course, you're one of those people always looking for a reason to be offended.

Thanks for clarifying that some bloggers are assholes. Sorry if any journalists or other real professionals feel dirty or tainted by the association.

Journalists? A dying breed

So why are you on Gothamist, then?

This story was ridiculously one sided. There wasn't a single quotation from a mosque representative. The threat to get a brick through the window is actually the paraphrased interpretation of the bar owner! The mosque never said that. (It just warned that it couldn't control its congregation, which to me is just being realistic.)

The mosque was hopelessly stupid and naive in thinking it could ask someone who had just invested a lot of money opening a legal bar to move. But the writer of this article is still an asshole; that, or he needed a troll post to hit his page views quota. Bonus time maybe oh John Del Signore?

I hate people... all of you.

*hugs*

...ok, well not you hotstepper.

more *hugs*!!!!

...ok weenie... you too. (But... I'm keepin' my eye on you.)

Wow, way to be neutral Gothamist.

Is the Mosque that unreasonable in asking? If they were there first and believe they are right about the 200 foot rule, then what's the problem with them making a request? Would it have been better for them to just run to court and sue?

If a threat was made then that's a different story. But, there isn't enough in the article to know exactly how anything was phrased. Was it a threat or just someone saying that people might go overboard? The only info. comes from the bar owner.

And, frankly, why did the bar owner feel the need to use profanity when talking to the mosque leader? Would anyone talk to a priest or rabbi like that? I am no fan of organized religion, but unless the Imam came into the situation with an attitude it seems disrespectful.

That being said, the fact that the bar covered the windows seems like an awfully nice gesture here and an attempt to address the concerns of the mosque and the reality of the situation.

ohai~~~~

"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."

You're quoting the developer of the bar. I'm not saying he is right or wrong, merely that he has an agenda. If there was an identical quote from the zoning board or someone not involved, then I would accept that.

Right, because people on zoning boards are impartial. Gonna correct a misconception: blogs don't need to be objective. You're lost, the New York Times has their own website.

Frankly, if a priest asked me to close my business for a similar reason, I can guarantee I would be incredulous. And in my incredulity, I might damn sure use profanity.

Not really sure what planet you live on, or what country you think this is.

The people who object to this post are in the same shameful camp as the sharia-prone neighbors of this bar. This is America where people are free to do as they please so long as they do not violate someone else's rights.

Would those of you objecting to this piece be OK with a bar owner asking a mosque to move or somehow conceal its services because it offends his or her belief that women are not chattel, or hurts our sensibilities because they knew someone who was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks? No. Such a request would rightfully be the object of derision. The mosque's requests should be subjected to the sarcasm it has richly earned.

"welcome to america. now fuck off."

this bar is in the middle of f*cking manhattan. any group trying to shut down a bar in the middle of manhattan is a dbag, plain and simple. doesn't matter what religion, race or whatever else it is that brings the group together.

and i can't believe the windows were covered for a wedding, though i'd imagine that was done more with an eye towards preventing harassment of the grooms and guests than for the benefit of the intolerant neighbors.

and when did calling someone out for a threat of violence become improper? JDS's tone was too harsh? maybe next time he should use emoticons instead. would that be ok?

Next they'll be demanding all women wear burkas anywhere near their. Little by little, we're being cowed into a de facto system of dhimmitude. Thank goodness the bar owner has the guts to tell these fanatical tyrants off. Political correctness will be the death of freedom in this country.

Great post.

Shit, did Ides of March just agree with me? That gives me pause.

Yes, because all Muslim women wear burqas?!

Why are you people all worried about NYC turning into South Waziristan? How long have you been here, anyways? The area around the Ace Hotel used to be the Tenderloin. It's never going to happen.

I'm glad the owner of the restaurant stood his ground, but JDS doesn't have to be such a dick about it.

I'll have to side with the bar in this case. Sorry my Muslim friends, but beer existed for some five Millennia before the birth of my son (And most religions for that matter), and I've enjoyed it since its creation. I guess creating man was good for something after all right?!

You can pray to me (Allah, God, whatever), and enjoy beer brewed from the hops that I sowed the fields with at the same time. An Equitable solution for all those involved.

If you disagree with my judgement, perhaps a small flood or, say, another big bang will change your minds.

it's about time you showed up. omnipresence my ass.

I usually like to appear as obscure patterns on walls or loafs of bread, but I thought a discussion board would be something new.

I love The Lord!

Good one...

I don't believe in you.

lol Like I haven't heard that before.

Once you get to the Pearly Gates and I get Saint Peter to stamp your forehead with the words DENIED, you'll change your tone. Not before Beelzebub gets a whack at you. Satan may be evil but he always makes me laugh.

What the fuck is the matter with some of you all who think everyone needs to be kissy-kissy with each other?

If it weren't for us assholes, some of you little shits wouldn't even be here.

The Mosque guys sound a bit wound up. Maybe they should have a drink.

That last line is loathsome. And not in a "wow, you're edgy!" way. In a "wow, you're a piece of crap" way.

Woah, Islamaphobic much? That last sentence is disgusting. I'm all for freedom of speech, but don't be a dick about it.

I work right by there, and the Ace Hotel is so obnoxiously hipster-ized that I cross to the mosque and church side of the street to avoid it.

Did you conveniently overlook the part where the mosque guy actually threatened the owner of the bar?

No, I think the mosque rep was a dick to that, but then again, we don't have both sides of the story. I'm wondering if JDS even tried to contact someone at the mosque.

"No, I think the mosque rep was a dick to that, but then again, we don't have both sides of the story."

We've been getting their "side" for 13 centuries, and it's consistently violent and retrograde. They should move their mosque back to hell, or koranustan or wherever.

"I'm wondering if JDS even tried to contact someone at the mosque."

Why don't you go get their "side" - be sure and leave them your home tel # and address.

Yes, because if I talk to them they will kill me?! What planet are you people from? Do you actually know any Muslims? I really don't think you do. P.S. Get your math right! Do you even know when Muhammad lived? It was more than 13 centuries ago.

don't feed the trolls.

"Yes, because if I talk to them they will kill me?!"

Go ahead and find out. Like I said, BE SURE AND GIVE THEM YOUR # & ADDRESS.

"What planet are you people from? Do you actually know any Muslims? I really don't think you do."

I live 3 blocks from the biggest "mosque" in NYC, you know, the one where the imam blamed the "Joos" for 9/11 before he fled the country.

I've read the koran, and it's a manual for murder of "infidels". Look up "dhimmie"; I am NOT one.

" P.S. Get your math right! Do you even know when Muhammad lived? It was more than 13 centuries ago."

The psycho, pedophile war–monger and mass-murderer died (not soon enough) in the 7th century. And there hasn't been a year of peace from islam ever since.

And if you want to see what happens when you appease these intolerant psychos, go visit their nieghborhoods in Paris, in Londonistan, or Malmo, Sweden, or Copenhagen, or Rotterdam, or better yet, Atlantic Avenue.

And if you like fislam so much, STAY THERE.

POSTSCRIPT:

RE: "And if you want to see what happens when you appease these intolerant psychos, go visit their nieghborhoods in Paris, in Londonistan, or Malmo, Sweden, or Copenhagen, or Rotterdam, or better yet, Atlantic Avenue."

Add Dearborn Michigan to that list:

10/29/09: Detroit imam killed in shootout with FBI

PPS - For those who can't watch utube at work.

ROPMA...

JDS is almost always a dick with his posts. Jen Carlson is an ignorant transplant from god knows where. Jen Chung could use a few lessons in grammar (for a senior editor). And so on and so forth.

And yet I still keep coming back to this site because I run out of websites to visit while at work.

KEN FRIEDMAN

Take down the curtains.

"But the curtain hasn't arrived yet, so over the weekend he actually taped paper over the windows to hide a gay wedding."

Why the fuck do we have to hide our weddings from a mosque? This is America, the most diverse country on the planet, and if you want to live here and enjoy your personal beliefs and the wealth of our country you will have to be respectuful of all those around you.

I'm going to open a strip club across the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral and see if everyone tells me the church is evil when they ask me to move it.

Because strip clubs are just like a marriage between two loving people. Great comparison.

You guys are funny. If that request was made from a christian church nearly everyone on here would be telling them to go fuck themselves.

Regardless, this isn't Riyadh. So if it's 200 ft, then shut the f up. If it's not, then the owner has a problem. Simple as that.

Props to Friedman for sticking to his guns, but the malicious, accusatory tone of this article (particularly the sarcastic non-zinger at the end) made me cringe. Then it made me feel ashamed for being an avid Gothamist reader. Then it made me really angry.

This great city is supposed to be about peaceful, tolerant co-existence with lots of people from other backgrounds, John, and you seem to be trying to tear that apart. It is neither fair nor wise to make broad and spiteful accusations (explicit or implied) against an entire group of the human race (in this case, devout Muslims) simply because of the actions of a small few within that group.

I'd also like to add that the way to fight intolerance is not with more intolerance. Please think before you type.

What a rube you are. (Yes, I thought before typing that.)

surely there has to be a story in the modern world where Muslims showed up and made things better. Right?

Ha - imagine that.

Move the Mosque.

Uhoh, JDS, the PC Police are here and they'd like to take you downtown for hectoring.

ROFL

JDS is clearly writing to get his page hits up today. That being said, you really can't kowtow to asshole religions, especially if they threaten you with violence, i.e. a brick through your window. He put up a curtain - he was willing to compromise by doing something a bar ordinarily wouldn't do. So what exactly is the remaining problem?

Absolutely - the Mosque needs to live and let live, they're part of a community, not a silo. Shame both sides couldn't take a more civil tone - even if you think it was a ridiculous request, I don't think the threats and attitude on either side are very productive toward diffusing things.

People are arguing here about two different things.

Do I think the bar should be moved? No, I don't. Friedman can and should do whatever the law permits him to do in running a profitable business.

The offense lies in the overall tone of the article. If a Synagogue made a similar request, would the article be called "Jews Threaten Breslin..." I don't think so.



And of course, there's the snickering joke in the last line of the article that if you piss off a Muslim you're inviting a bombing.

Maybe we can have some chicken and watermelon jokes next?

If a rabbi actually threatened the bar owner the way the mosque guy did, yes, the post would use the word "Threaten" in the title.

doubt it, nobody attacks or criticizes the Jews for fear of being labeled "antisemitic"

ditto

WTF?! Where the hell did the chicken and watermelon joke thing come from? Making a joke about possible terrorism when talking about a mosque threatening someone they don't like may not be nice, but it at east makes sense. Don't just bring up any racial stereotype that comes to mind because you're offended by someone cracking wise about Muslims.

A synagogue didn't make a similar request, but from what I recall there was a pretty similar response of outrage regarding the "too much woman skin!" issue that orthadox Jews had with the hipster cyclists on Kent Ave.

I agree, the tone of the article is pretty nasty and of course gothamist readers will jump in with their own racist innuendo. However let's note that the mosque implied violence toward the bar and we KNOW how much the gothamist staff likes to drink.