UPDATE: “Autonomous Zone” NYC Bar Owner Has Been Arrested After Sting Operation

UPDATE:

The owner of Mac’s Public House in NYC, who had kept his bar open in defiance of Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio’s COVID restrictions, has now been arrested.

According to NBC4 in New York, sheriff’s deputies pulled off a sting operation against the bar after surveilling them: “Plainclothes officers who were seated at a table ordered food and drinks “in exchange for a mandatory ‘donation’ of $40,” authorities said.”

Co-owner Danny Presti was then taken in to custody.

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A bar in New York City has had enough of COVID restrictions – and has declared itself to be an autonomous zone, rebelling against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s covid restrictions.

Bar Slapped With Severe Sanctions

Mac’s Public House in Grant City, Staten Island, declared themselves to be an “autonomous zone,” free of the mandates set forth by the city and state of New York.

“We refuse to abide by any rules and regulations put forth by the Mayor of NYC and Governor of NY State,” the signs around the pub read.

The new restrictions stopped all indoor dining in bars and restaurants, and had come into effect on Wednesday.

Mac’s, however, kept their doors open.

As a result, they got the book thrown at them. They’ve now lost their liquor license, and been hit with thousands of dollars in fines and a shut down order.

RELATED: Mike Pence Eviscerates Cuomo For New York Coronavirus Death Rates

“If That Liquor License Is Gonna Come Off The Wall, It’s Gotta Be Done By Cuomo”

“At this point, we’re OK with it, because we’re not paying it,” said co-owner Danny Presti.

“[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.”

Keith McAlarney, the other owner of the bar, echoed Presti in a YouTube video on Friday, the day that the liquor license was pulled.

“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 gonna come off the wall, it’s gonna be done by Cuomo,” McAlarney said.

“You wanna come down here and pull that license off the wall?” McAlarney asked ‘DeBozo’.

“Feel free to end up comin’ down, and we’ll end up having a conversation before you even think about stepping foot on my property. I will not back down.”

RELATED: James Woods Starts #KillerCuomo Hashtag Criticising NY Governor

Businesses Revolting Against NY Restrictions

Mac’s is not the only business to openly rebel against Cuomo’s coronavirus restrictions.

Robby Dinero, the owner of the Athletes Unleashed gym in Orchard Park, New York, tore up a $15,000 fine he received from his county’s health department live on Fox News last week.

The Supreme Court also shot down Cuomo’s rules regarding worshipping during the pandemic, which Justice Neil Gorsuch slammed as being totally political in nature.

“The only explanation for treating religious places differently seems to be a judgment that what happens there just isn’t as “essential” as what happens in secular spaces,” Gorsuch argued:

Indeed, the Governor is remarkably frank about this: In his judgment laundry and liquor, travel and tools are all “essential” while traditional religious exercises are not. That is exactly the kind of discrimination the First Amendment forbids.

The ruling was praised by Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as a defense of the First Amendment and religious freedom.