Tag Archives: Ian Reisner

OUT-NYC Owner Mati Weiderpass Kicked Out Of Fire Island Bar Sip-n-Twirl‏. But Was It A Set-Up?

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sip n twirl Mati

 

Mati Weiderpass, co-owner of the “gay-friendly“ and now struggling OUT NYC Hotel who is facing massive backlash for hosting a dinner for anti-gay GOP Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz was kicked out of the iconic Fire Island bar the Sip-n-Twirl on Sunday much to the delight and cheers of other patrons.  

Weiderpass was “supposedly” kicked out after he was confronted by furious patrons,and the bars owner according to the New York Post.

Customer Evan Lobel said, “One guy got up and asked him what the rationale was to have dinner with Cruz. They got kind of heated and before you knew it, there was a lot of people yelling

It was at this point that that Sip-n-Twirl owner, P.J. McAteer, asked them to leave the bar and threatened to call police.

When Widerpass cheers exploded within the bar.

Mr. Weiderpass issued the following statement: “P.J. McAteer is condemning me for what he perceives as my thoughts and beliefs by asking me to leave a venue open to all. As small-minded as that is, I have been and will always be an advocate for LGBTQ issues,”

What makes this interesting is that  P.J. McAteer’s is a co-owner of Reisner’s properties  in the Pines and its HIS  liquor license  they piggybacked off of to get the State Liqour Authority  license for Reisner’s acquisitions on on Fire Island and helped Reiser set up his businesses on Fire Island:

The Out is coming out…. to Fire Island. Ian Reisner, owner of New York’s The Out Hotel, has purchased Fire Island Pines at auction, the commercial district along the harbor on Fire Island (on the other side of Long Island). Together with PJ McAteer, owner of the local Sip & Twirl nightclub, he plans to bring the district back to life following the fire that destroyed The Pavilion nightclub back in 2011.

For the $10.1 million they paid, Reisner and McAteer now own a long list of properties that include: The Pavilion (rebuilt by the previous owners), the ‘High Tea’ Deck, the Botel Hotel, Rack Gym, Pines Pool & Bar, the Blue Whale Restaurant, Canteen/ Cultured Elephant Restaurant, a number of shops, two homes, and a boat (!).

Was this a stunt on P.J. McAteer’s  part to distance himself (and his property) from Reisner and Weiderpass so he could continue to make money? 

Both Boycott Fire Island Pines Establishments & Out NYC Hotel and Queer Nation NY have been actively educating gay men and women on Fire Island about Weiderpass and Reiser and have been pushing a boycott of the following businesses owned by either of them which include: Sip-N-Twirl, The Pavilion, Botel, Bistro, Blue Whale, Pines Pizza, and the Cultured Elephant.

Something sure smells in the Fire Island Pines and it sure ain’t poppers.

 

*Back2Stonewall.com has reached out to P.J. McAteer for comment.  He has not responded. Meanwhile both McAteer’s own Facebook page and the Sip-n-Twirl page continue to publicize Ian Reisner owned property events.

 

 

Queer Nation To Fly Banner Over Fire Island With Boycott Info For Reisner Properties After Lies About Ted Cruz Dinner

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Fire Island boycott 2

 

Via press release from Queer Nation: 

A plane trailing a banner reading “Boycott Hi/Lo Tea! Fight For Full LGBT Rights!” will fly above the beach at Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines on Sunday, June 7, between 2 pm and 3 pm. The action will underscore the LGBT community’s outrage over the April 20 meeting between Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and gay businessmen Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, who subsequently donated money to the Cruz campaign. The two gay men also held an April 14 fundraiser at their Manhattan penthouse for Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), another anti-LGBT politician.

Reisner and Weiderpass own most of the businesses in the Pines—including the Blue Whale, Sip-N-Twirl, and the Pavilion, where the “High Tea” and “Low Tea” cocktail hours are held—as well as the gay-oriented Out Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.“Two gay business owners are making money off of the LGBT community at a world-famous gay vacation spot and then giving that money to outspoken anti-LGBT politicians,” said Ken Kidd, a member of Queer Nation, the gay rights group that orchestrated the flyover. “Our community is out to win comprehensive federal legislation that will make LGBT Americans fully equal under the law. We will not be taken backward by funding anti-LGBT politicians.”

Last week a band of gay activist took to Fire Island this weekend to spread the news and point out which of the Fire Island properties belonged to  Ian Reisner’s and should be boycotted in The Pines after the New York Times revealed that Reisner, who also owns  OUT NYC hotel, lied about cutting a campaign check to ultra-conservative and anti-LGBT candidate Ted Cruz at the same time that he and his business partner Mati Weiderpass hosted a reception for Cruz in their Manhattan penthouse.

Reisner did, in fact, cut a check for $2,700, the maximum individual contribution allowed.

While many knew of Reisner’s ownership of the  OUT-NYC Hotel complex many are unaware of his specific holdings in the Fire Island Pines.

That is until now.

The flyer urges the a boycott of some of Fire Island’s most historic gay landmarks like the Pavilion, Botel, Bistro, Sip-N-Twirl, Blue Whale, Pines Pizza, and the Cultured Elephant.

If you would like to learn more check out the Boycott Fire Island Pines Establishments & Out NYC Hotel and the QUEER NATION Facebook pages for further info.

NYC/Fire Island Hotelier Ian Reisner: Ooopsie I Forgot. I DID Make A Donation To Anti-Gay Ted Cruz’s Campaign

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OUT NYC

 

Via the New York Times:

When the gay hoteliers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass found themselves under siege for hosting a dinner for Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who is running for president and has been vociferously opposed to same-sex marriage, they repeatedly stressed that the event was not a fund-raiser.

“There were no checks given, it was nothing like that,” Mr. Reisner told New Yorkmagazine, after The New York Times first reported on the mid-April dinner at the Central Park South penthouse. Protests and calls for boycotts of Mr. Reisner’s and Mr. Weiderpass’s properties, including their groundbreaking hotel for gay clientele, the Out NYC, ensued.

As it turns out, Mr. Reisner himself wrote a check to Mr. Cruz’s presidential campaign, making a $2,700 donation — the maximum allowed in a nominating contest — around the time the dinner took place. But shortly after The Times reported on the dinner, where about 18 people sat down at two tables in separate areas of the palatial penthouse, Mr. Reisner called the campaign and asked for his check to be refunded.

“In the interest of transparency, I gave Senator Cruz a $2,700 check to show my support for his work on behalf of Israel,” Mr. Reisner said in a statement he provided after The Times learned of the donation from two people with direct knowledge of it. “When I realized his donation could be misconstrued as supporting his anti-gay marriage agenda, I asked for the money back. Senator Cruz’s office gave the money back, and I have no intention of giving any money to any politicians who aren’t in support of L.G.B.T. issues.”

I’ll buy the tar if you buy the feathers.

Boycott Select Fire Island Pines Establishments (Pavilion, Low Tea, High Tea, Botel, Botel Barracks, Pool Deck, Harbor Club, Blue Whale, Cultured Elephant)*, Out NYC Hotel, and XL Nightclub (aka BPM)

 

OUT-NYC Hotel Owners Continue To Defend Ted Cruz Dinner, Call Gay Mans Death In Bathtub “Result of their generosity”

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Ted Cruz out hotel

 

 

For fucks sake.

Multimillionaire scum gay real estate developers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass are at it once  once again defending their “terrible mistake” to host a reception for vehnemently anti-gay GOP crazy Ted Cruz in a new interview with The New York Times. And if you think their previous comments were shocking, you ain’t seen anything yet.

 “I’m not going to use arrogant words, but I think our level of prominence in the gay community and our proven track record and success, we’re the ideal people to sit with our harshest critics,” said Reisner. “It’s being labeled as a crime, but I think what we did was ultimately very good.”  Reisner and Weiderpass, have repeatedly alternated between defending their decision, attacking the “cheap amd entitled” gay community, to  apologizing for it.  Reisener also addressed making headlines last October after 23-year-old Hell’s Kitchen gay bar manager Sean Verdi was found dead of a reported drug overdose in a bathtub at the two  hoteliers’ Manhattan penthouse.   “I am an extremely generous host to thousands of people,” Reisner said. “And with that openness comes risk that somebody might get harmed.”  “Harm is the wrong word. Accidents can happen,” added Weiderpass. 

Reisner and Weiderpass  have recently hired Omar Sharif Jr to be their gay community liaison?

Stay out of the bathroom Omar.

If you can stomach it you can read the rest of the NYT article here.

With His Cash Registers Falling Silent OUT NYC Hotelier Ian Reisner Apologizes Once Again To The “Cheap” Gays

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OUT NYC

OUT NYC hotel owner and real estate developer Ian Reisner has once again apologized for his decision to host a reception with Mati Weiderpass)and dinner at his Manhattan penthouse for virulently anti-LGBT senator and 2016 candidate Ted Cruz last month.  The apology comes on the heels of  making  comments that he was the victim of bullying by the gay community and that gays are “cheap and entitled”.

Reisner, who back in January paid $10.1 million for a commercial strip along the Fire Island Pines, has  now pledged to redouble his support for LGBT causes and cut a $20,000 check for the Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association (FIPPOA) PAC.

 FIPPOA President Jay Pagano stated that he had recently met with Reisner and was given the following apology that was read at the group’s spring meeting:

“Dear Members of our Community, 

First I want to clear up that Mati Weiderpass has zero involvement or ownership in the Pines.    

Now let me state unequivocally that I made mistakes. While my initial intention was bi-partisan dialogue about National & Israeli security, I’ve come to learn that intentions and outcomes are different things. The outcomes of my actions are that I’ve deeply hurt our community – and I am truly sorry.   

In order to help build a stronger community I am taking the following steps: 

– I am renewing and redoubling my commitment as an ardent supporter of LGBT causes.   

– I will continue to invest my resources in the Pines, its cultural programs and activities that celebrate the diversity and acceptance of its community members, so that it always holds its rightful place in LGBT history.   

– To this end, today I made a donation to the ‘FIPPOA-PAC’ — matching All funds raised in its last active year — which supports politicians committed to the Pines and to LGBT issues. 

– More so, I will be donating profits from my Pines Investment this summer to the following organizations that I have supported in the past: The LGBT Community Center in NYC & The Jerusalem Open House, as well as to ‘Equality Texas’ which fights for LGBT rights on one of this countries more challenging fronts. 

– Further, I am in the process of hiring a Director of Community Affairs to serve as a liaison with various LGBT organizations and to guide me in better serving our community. 

– Lastly, I commit to meeting and consulting with community & organizational leaders, to hear their concerns and their ideas so that we can all work together for a better Pines and a stronger LGBT community. 

Please accept these preliminary steps as assurance of my commitment to getting this right and to becoming the community member you deserve.”

 Reisner has since hired Omar Sharif Jr. from GLAAD his  as Director of Community Affairs and $20,000 was wired to the FIPPOA PAC account

 Also Reisner has also not given any explanation about his well-documented support and fundraising for anti-gay Sen Ron Johnson(R).

Interesting choice of pennace donating money to an association of wealthy property owners, who happen to be his neighbors, in one of the most non-inclusive and snooty gay meccas in the world! How self-sacrificing! What a way to show his concern and support for gay people who are not less fortunate as him!

It’s beginning to seem that the only honest sentence Ian Reisner ever said was to 911: “there is a dead kid in my bath tub, please tell the police to get here slowly, while Mati and I flush the drugs we murdered him with, thanks!”

OUT NYC Hotelier Mati Weiderpass: I Won’t Be Silenced By Gay Extremists (And Also I’m An Idiot)

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Ted Cruz out hotel

 

After hosting rabidly anti-gay Republican Ted Cruz, and his partner Ian Reisner calling gays “cheap” and “entitled” one would think that the quisling multi-millionaire gay owners of OUT NYC hotel and entertainment complex in NYC  would know better by now.

But nooooooooooooooooo.

Mati Weiderpass had to open his mouth again in an op-ed for  New York Observer playing victim this time and claiming that he and his reputation are the ones being attacked by big bad “gay extremists”

“Since hosting a discussion with Texas Senator Ted Cruz in my home, I have been inundated with hateful, biased social media messages, and attacks from gay extremists (do I dare say the word?) who demand inclusion, but do not believe in dialogue. I know in my heart that these attacks do not represent the rich culture and diversity of the gay community. Yet, in our community, as in so many others, the most vocal often dominate the conversation. I hope this op-ed will help heal wounds and continue necessary progress and discussion. It is amazing that my businesses are being boycotted by some because I hosted a discussion with an elected official. Not a fundraiser. Not an endorsement. A dialogue. What would we say if the Jewish community organized a boycott of a business leader who hosted a private discussion with an important Muslim politician? We know the answer. I am a longtime leader of my community – and proud of who I am and what I have accomplished. Boycotting me for a discussion? Since when have we grown so small and intolerant?”

 

“‘I am a longtime leader of my community’

Bitch.  our community obviously begs to differ.

 

Multi-millionaire OUT NYC Hotelier Ian Reisner Who Hosted Ted Cruz: “Gays Are Cheap, Gays Are Entitled”

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OUT NYC

 

“You know, it’s so ironic — I wanted to build kind of a community center in the gateway to Hell’s Kitchen, which in 2008–2009 was already a gay place and now it’s even gayer. Very close to Broadway. We decided there’d be so many different ways to give back to the community. We show gay artists there. For gay performers, we have let this cabaret club go on for three and a half years. And you don’t make money when you let drag queens in on Tuesday night and 30 people drink at $10 a drink and you have to pay five people to watch over the place. You don’t make money … My only point is, this has not been a profitable venture. Gays are cheap. They’re frugal; gays are frugal. Let me retract that … gays are entitled … Do you know how challenging it is to make a penny off a gay person? I’m gay, I don’t pay cover. I’m gay, where’s my comp drink?[Everyone laughs.] No, I’m being serious! The Out NYC has not shown a profit yet.” – Ian Reisner, in a New York Magazine joint interview with Mati Weiderpass.

Oh keep digging, by all means!

In related news……..

Yesterday on the Facebook page of the NYC Council’s LGBT Caucus, they call for a continued boycott of OUT NYC, and all Reisner and Weiderpass properties.

STATEMENT – LGBT CAUCUS – NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

“Owning businesses that cater to the LGBT community comes with a heightened level of responsibility. For the proprietors of the OUTnyc and Fire Island Pines, hosting anti-LGBT politicians like Senators Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson in their home – for whatever reason – was the height of irresponsibility. We hope that the events of the last week send a message to businesses that serve our community: you cannot make money from our community and support those who don’t support our basic civil rights.”

LGBT Caucus – Council Members Daniel Dromm (Queens), Corey Johnson (Manhattan), Carlos Menchaca (Brooklyn), Rosie Mendez (Manhattan), Ritchie Torres (Bronx), James Van Bramer (Queens)

‪#‎BoycottFIPOut‬

Quislings of a Feather: OUT NYC Owner Mati Weiderpass Uses Ken Mehlman and Israel To Backpeddle On Ted Cruz Dinner

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Ted Cruz out hotel

 

“I am happy to see such passion and energy in support of gay rights. We just need to channel that passion and energy to those who would deny us those rights. The dinner with Ted Cruz happened only because IT WAS NOT A FUNDRAISER. It was about security for Israel, but it also gave me a rare opportunity to address the gay issues for which Ted Cruz has championed against. THREE FACTS WILL MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR TED CRUZ TO BE THE CHAMPION AGAINST GAY RIGHTS: 1) he had a private dinner (not a fund raiser) at a gay couples home, 2) he is in several pictures at that gay household, and 3) he stated he would love his daughter the same if she were gay. Those facts are difficult to reconcile with his stance on gay issues — Ted’s far right anti-gay supporters are screaming now. We need to be persistent with our message and it will slowly seep thru even to those most vehemently against gay rights.

“Ken Mehlman was the Chair of the Republican National Committee whose platform included several anti-gay positions. Later in life Ken was instrumental in the passage of Gay Marriage in NY State. People’s views can be changed over time. I worked 6 years for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which required many unpleasant conversations with people who opposed Gays in the Military. And it worked! THE GAY MOVEMENT NEEDS YOUR HELP. Tell those people that are against us or just neutral, that gay people have families, friends, some worship in church and we don’t want to be demonized. Light up social media with calls for the SUPREME COURT TO RULE IN FAVOR OF GAY MARRIAGE! ‪#‎SUPREMESFORMARRIAGE‬ – Mati Weiderpass,

Translation: I got caught being a Kapo, quick backpedal before I lose too much business. After all it’s about the money.