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The New Jersey venue where at least 150 people gathered Thursday night for the annual New York Young Republican Club gala was closed on Friday amid public outcry and another wave of coronavirus in the tri-state area .
The 108th annual gala – which was supposed to feature star speaker Sarah Palin before stepping down – took place at Maritime Parc in Jersey City’s Liberty State Park after the group appeared to abandon plans to hold it on the other side of the river in New York. Videos and images posted on Twitter showed participants gathered inside, flouting COVID-19 guidelines.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop called the event a “flagrant violation” of state restrictions against COVID-19. In a statement to the Daily Beast on Friday morning, he said “the facility was ordered to close” until he submits a written operational plan to the Department of Health on how it is complying with mandates. capacity and wearing masks.
In two furious tweetsNew Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the group “are said to have broken into Jersey City” for a part that is now under investigation by law enforcement. He called Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) a “jerk” who was never welcome in New Jersey.
“It is irrelevant that anyone willfully endanger people in another state,” he wrote.
But while the GOP event – to which Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe also spoke– sparked outrage from New Jersey officials, those present did not seem to care about the ongoing pandemic.
It appears that the event took place in a private space, dubbed the Sky Room, on the second floor of the Maritime Park. The room can accommodate up to 500 people seated, with views of southern Manhattan and a wraparound 270-degree outdoor patio.
According to group chairman, 26, Gavin Wax, the event drew “around 150 people” to hear Gaetz, a Trump loyalist who sadly wore a gas mask on the Congressional floor before voting on COVID -19 relief legislation.
A guest, Joel Fischer, posed for a selfie with the Florida lawmaker in front of unmasked guest tables. “Hi @NYGovCuomo. Come get me, ”Fischer wrote, mocking Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his state’s strict COVID-19 rules.
Another set of photos posted by Wax showed guests huddled together, smiling, without masks. “Eat Antifa shit. God bless America, ”the 26-year-old wrote.
A video posted by lawyer Ron Coleman with the caption: “Oh oh. The Rona has come loose, ”shows dozens of guests flying around Gaetz.
New Jersey limits indoor gatherings to 10 people, except for “religious and political activities protected by the First Amendment.” Exempt gatherings can accommodate up to 150 people in an indoor space, but social distancing and mask wearing are mandatory. In New York City, where the Young Republican Club event is usually held, there is a 50-person limit for indoor gatherings.
Wax kept the location of the event a secret, even hinting at the Daily Beast earlier this week that it was yet to be held in New York City.
The party’s original location, The Caldwell Factory, has a capacity of 500, but it appears the plan to hold it there was scrapped as the outrage grew. The venue name was suddenly removed from the Eventbrite page for the gala on Tuesday, which later said the venue was to “be announced.”
Asked about the change of venue on Friday, Wax insisted the gala would still be held in the Jersey City venue and had been finalized at least two months ago.
“New Jersey has much more lax rules,” Wax said. “He’s been in New Jersey for a while. We never ‘ran over there’ we saw we could do 150 people in New Jersey versus 50 people in New York and that made more sense.
However, a spokesperson for the Maritime Park told The Daily Beast on Friday that it was a “last minute reservation”.
The spokesperson insisted the event complied with state restrictions, as tables were six feet apart, drinks were only served at the table by masked and gloved waiters, he was There was no dancing and guests had to wear masks when entering and leaving the room. Additionally, New Jersey State Police attended the scene ahead of time to ensure compliance, the spokesperson said.
“It has come to our attention that videos and photos have emerged … showing people nearby; we think it was at the end of the evening, because we think the agenda provided for 2 hours 45 minutes of speech on the whole 3.5 hour event, ”added the spokesperson .
The venue said they had only heard of Fulop’s shutdown order through media reports and were scrambling to get more details.
The New York Young Republican Club has a history that dates back to the mid-19th century but, as The Daily Beast reported, it took a sharp right turn during the Trump presidency, inviting anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller, the conspiracy theory Jack Posobiec and Mike Cernovich, Pizzagate enthusiast, will speak.
Earlier this week, Wax said in a statement that “our club has held its annual gala continuously for the past 107 years, through two world wars and the Spanish flu”.
“We thought it was important as an institution to carry on this great heritage and this tradition,” he continued. “In doing so, we will comply with all state-imposed capacity limits and social distancing requirements. Masks will be required when participants are not seated and temperatures will be taken at [the] door.”
Friday, wax again insisted the gala was “in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations” and said any suggestion “to the contrary and any legal threat is made in bad faith and politically motivated”.
“As far as we know, the First Amendment has not been repealed,” he tweeted before adding a follow-up post: “The nihilist left projects itself when it calls the NYYRC a ‘cult of death’. We are exactly the opposite. We embrace life and life as you all curl up in your pods worried about disease with over 99% survival rate.
Once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, New York and its neighboring states have put in place strict guidelines to stop its spread. But New York’s current positivity rate, 5%, is now at its highest since April. Across the river, New Jersey is also seeing an increase in cases. The New Jersey Department of Health reported on Friday that 15,373 residents had died and another 350,999 were infected.
Gaetz’s in-person appearance also defies New York and New Jersey guidelines, as both states have established quarantine guidelines for those traveling from hotspot states.
If the Florida lawmaker had traveled to New Jersey from the Sunshine State, he would have had to quarantine himself for at least three days before being tested for New York State rules, and until to 14 days to comply with New Jersey guidelines. (Gaetz said earlier this month that he tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies but was not sure when he contracted the virus.)
During his coronavirus briefing Friday, Murphy referred to Gaetz as “Sarah Palin’s safeguarding act for this event” and someone for whom “based on her past performance it is evident that being a knucklehead is not irrelevant to him.
“I feel bad for the people who “had to” work and I can’t believe management would put them in this position.“
Varick Boyd, who worked at the Maritime Park several years ago, told the Daily Beast he first learned of the event through one of Coleman’s tweets and “immediately recognized the views “.
He said he was “no longer surprised by people’s behavior”, but felt sad that former colleagues were forced to risk their lives and the health of their family members during the holiday season to keep their jobs.
“In general, I feel bad for the people who ‘had to’ work and I can’t believe management would put them in this position. Participants can do whatever they want, but it is selfish to force others to serve you so that you can have a secret part of owning the libraries. Their words are not mine, ”said Boyd, 51, adding that Coleman had since blocked him on Twitter.
“I find it strange that the Young Republicans of New York are having an event in New Jersey. I also find it strange that they were able to violate all of the NJ restrictions placed on the state.
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