It doesn't take storming the beaches of Normandy to be considered a hero these days. In fact, all it takes is sticking the proverbial middle finger to authoritarian edicts by politicians. In New York City, it's coming in the form of a sign in the window.
Starting Sept. 13, the "Key to NYC" program will be enforced, which mandates that restaurants and other indoor establishments require proof of vaccination from customers. Mayor Bill de Blasio's order comes as many businesses are still struggling to get back on their feet after the devastating economic effects of lockdowns and other Covid health precautions.
When the Democrat announced the new rules at the beginning of August, some protested almost immediately, including Pasticceria Rocco, a pastry shop and diner in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Plastered across the storefront window read the sign: "We do not discriminate against any customer based on sex, gender, race, creed, age, vaccinated or unvaccinated. All customers who wish to patronize are welcome."
The importance of that message struck a chord with Queens resident Ari Hasanaj, 22, when he was denied entry to his gym for not being vaccinated.
"I can't believe this is actually happening right now," he recalled thinking. "This is America."
He remembered the incident when listening to Andy Frisella discussing on a podcast how ordinary Americans can stand up and do amazing things.
"Anybody could really just start a movement or do whatever they can to fight back," he told Townhall. "So I decided, let me just try to make a TikTok video, passing out these signs, let me see what would happen. And I did, and now here we are, it just blew up. I guess everybody loves what I'm doing, and it's pretty crazy."
Impressed by Pasticceria Rocco's "brilliant" sign, the ones Hasanaj passed out over the weekend used the same message. Of the eight stores he went into in the video, six wanted one, he said—and they plan to keep them up even after the threat of a $1,000 fine goes into effect next week for the first offense and $2,000 for the second time businesses fail to enforce the new rules against the unvaccinated.
After Hasanaj's video went viral, he focused his attention on planning a protest so his effort could be multiplied by the hundreds, all across the city.
Hasanaj also insisted the effort is not an anti-vax movement, but one about liberty.
Freedom-lovers can join Hasanaj's effort Sept. 10-12 at 1 p.m. in Union Square Park by the George Washington statue. From there, smaller groups will break apart and head out to Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan to hand out signs, which he's raising money for on GoFundMe.
"As one man, I cannot do much, but we have power in numbers," he said.
follow @arihasanaj
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) September 8, 2021
This guys a hero. I won’t be going to stores that enforce the vaccination mandate. https://t.co/4vJinZZXwv
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) September 7, 2021
Updates will be made available on his Discord and Instagram pages.
