I believe in the right to protest, I want peace, this one cost me $50,000

Last night at Grand Central

We opened a City Winery less than a year ago on the ground floor of Grand Central.  Fridays in NYC, unlike pre-pandemic, has been very quiet with no commuters anymore coming in and out of NY as we initially expected.  Well, that was until yesterday when a protest finally packed Grand Central Terminal which forced the MTA & NYPD to shut us down because too many people showed up.  The private party we had booked cancelled, and we were not allowed to serve wine to the peaceful protestors.  I’m actually on the fence regarding what is the correct strategy in Gaza or the greater Palestinian issue.   I certainly believe both people are entitled to live freely and are entitled to land, to a homeland.  I’d like an immediate ceasing of war, of civilian death, but Hamas and any terrorist organization seeking the annellation of the Jews or anyone should be crushed.   But what is wrong with serving wine to get to peace.  A glass of Pinot could be the path towards bringing people together.    

This morning’s post was not going to be about losing $50,000 last night arising from the protest.  Yesterday, I was bemoaning the mass shooting of 18 people in Maine bringing to 35,275 people who have died in the US this year from gun violence as of Oct. 26 according to the Gun Violence Archives.  That includes almost 500 mass shootings killing 1,157 teens and 246 children.  That’s 3x the new war in Israel which has killed about 7,300 Palestinians which includes 1500 children, 600 under the age of 4, plus the 1400 Israelis.  All too much.  All absolutely tragic.

Day before that, I was complaining about our new speaker of the house who among other things is a climate change denier.  The day Johnson was elected, a devastating hurricane set a record growing to a category 5 within 24 hours—fastest increase in wind speeds ever recorded and freaking out meteorologists.   Then again, in 2023, we have had the most severe droughts, flooding, cyclones, wildfires, with devastating economic effects across the globe in recorded history.  And this dude Johnson denies that fossil fuel burning is part of the problem.  Billions of dollars lost, we have had at least twice the concert cancelations this year compared to any other year, due to dramatic weather. 

All this good news after 3 years of covid screwing up our business.   But this post was not to complain about that or list all the deaths related to the pandemic.

I’m pissed about losing $50,000 last night not being able to serve wine to peaceful protesters.  Nevertheless, I’m reminded that perhaps not everyone would be peaceful, that an individual might take advantage of the chaos and hurt one of our staff, one of our customers, etc.   Fine.  So maybe insurance might cover this one, not like they have provided a penny for pandemic related or climate related loss of business.   Nope, protests are excluded from the policy as well.  Not really certain what is covered anymore.  But this was not going to be an indictment of the insurance industry and the cadre of lawyers that support a system that scams businesses trying to earn a legitimate dollar or two.  Ok, now I am certainly off the subject I was focusing on.  Or was it, hard not to be bitter or depressed about the state of the world right now.  Its beyond George Orwell surreal, sad loss of real life everywhere with ancient wars and idiocy touching all of us every day. What is irritating this morning is that it’s coming out of my pocketbook.

I really just want to serve some wine.  Just want to run a business without interruption.  But this complaining or kvetching actually feels callus when one considers the real pain people are experiencing daily from all the loss of life happening everywhere every day from every imaginable reason. Ok then.  Let’s see what today brings us.   Cheers. L’Chaim.