Grillo said he did not know how long the sticker will stay on the door. He said it was done to show that NYPD “does not discriminate against anyone.” Pelemaco said he believed hanging the sticker was a way for NYPD to make peace and ensure that no members of the gay community feel ostracized or offended. According to Pelemaco, though he was not at the restaurant on the night the alleged controversy ensued, to his understanding there was a conflict between a gay club-goer and someone at the restaurant that resulted in the former being offended. John Pelemaco, a manager at NYPD, said a previous incident played a role in the posting of the sticker. If we feel like taking it down - we will.” I just felt like it was the right thing to do. “There was absolutely no pressure whatsoever. Grillo said in an interview that he was never pressured to hang the sticker on his door by anyone and that Shirvell may have misunderstood what he told him.
Shirvell said Grillo told him he hoped the sticker would come down in a few weeks, but declined to give details about the alleged incident. Shirvell said he was led to believe that Grillo “had to put up the rainbow flag decal in order to appease the homosexuals who frequented NYPD on Friday nights” after leaving Necto nightclub on Liberty Street. Otherwise this type of intimidation of small business owners and their customers will never end.” Shirvell encouraged others to call or visit NYPD’s owners and ask them to remove the sticker. Shirvell wrote in the e-mail that he may not eat at NYPD because it is “time to take a stand. Mary’s Student Social Justice Ministry, asking them to persuade Grillo to take the sticker down. Last week Shirvell sent an e-mail to members of St. Shirvell said Maurice Grillo, one of the owners at NYPD, told him that an incident of some sort involving the gay community “forced his hand.” “I think it’s sad that they cut things down and cover things up that they don’t like without trying to understand what they mean.”Īfter Shirvell saw the sticker, he asked one of the owners why it was on the door. But I have to wonder if the flag itself is what’s making him upset,” Kalra said. “People have their own right to an opinion. Kalra said that the flag represents diversity and that she is confused as to how Shirvell can be so upset - primarily because diversity is encouraged at this University. Jaya Kalra, a co-chair for Stonewall Democrats, said that it was very surprising that a parishioner reacted so strongly to the sticker, especially because she knows that St. “I find the rainbow flag offensive because it is a symbol of the homosexual movement that, in my opinion, indicates a validation of the homosexual lifestyle, as opposed to a sign that indicates ‘openness’ to customers who are of the homosexual orientation,” he said. Shirvell, a University alumnus and former president of Students for Life, said the sticker is offensive because it endorses homosexuality instead of simply tolerating it. Mary’s Student Parish, located down the street from NYPD.
The sticker has upset some people, including Andrew Shirvell, an NYPD customer and member of St. Please report any errors in the Daily to of a local student-oriented Catholic parish received an e-mail last week urging them to boycott the New York Pizza Depot on East William Street because of a gay pride rainbow sicker on its front door. Waters said Shirvell does not have any official status as a spokesman for the church, his views are not shared by the majority of the parish and that Waters said most of the people he spoke with were more upset with Shirvell’s posture than the gay pride sticker.